Climateupdated 34m ago2 min read
UNHCR Warns Nearly 90 Million Displaced People Face Severe Climate Risks Ahead of COP31 in Turkey
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Nearly 90 million displaced people live in countries highly exposed to climate risks. UNHCR warns ahead of COP31 in Turkey that climate risks threaten these displaced groups.
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COP31 Warning
The United Nations Refugee Agency warned that about 90 million refugees and forcibly displaced people live in countries highly exposed to climate-related risks, urging urgent action ahead of COP31 in Turkey. Antonio Lis García, the Assistant High Commissioner for Operations at the agency, said in a statement that the displaced “face double injustice.”
The agency said droughts, floods, and extreme heat linked to climate change and global warming are increasingly threatening the lives of displaced people and their prospects for returning home. The agency also warned that only about 10% of climate finance reaches fragile or conflict-affected countries, even as those countries host large numbers of displaced people.
Return and Heat
The UN Refugee Agency warned that more than two-thirds of refugees who returned to their countries during the first half of this year found themselves in areas highly exposed to climate risks. The agency said Syria has nearly four million displaced people who have recently returned, and it warned that depleting groundwater and climate shocks threaten recovery and stabilization efforts.
The agency projected that by 2050 one in every three settlements of refugees in sub-Saharan Africa could experience at least 100 days a year of dangerous temperatures. Antón Lice García said refugees “were forced to flee conflicts they did not cause, and now find themselves at the front lines of a climate crisis they contributed to only to a minimal extent.”
Funding and Displacement
The UN Refugee Agency said weather-related disasters caused more than 255 million internal displacements worldwide over the past decade, about 70,000 per day. The agency forecasted that El Niño, described as exceptionally strong this year, is expected to drive additional displacement waves, with severe floods potentially forcing up to three million people to flee in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda by the end of 2026.
The agency said fragile and conflict-affected countries hosting large numbers of displaced people receive only about 10% of total allocated support. The agency said it will call on governments and climate finance institutions during COP31 to incorporate refugees and other displaced people into national climate plans and related financing mechanisms.