Climate change has already forced millions worldwide to abandon their homes and is worsening the “nightmarish” conditions that displaced people face, the UN warned today.
In light of the COP29 Climate Conference currently underway in Baku, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reminded us of the extent to which rising temperatures and increased extreme weather events affect the lives of refugees and displaced persons.
The UNHCR called for larger and more effective investments to mitigate these impacts and risks.
Climate disruption, combined with conflicts, is placing already vulnerable people in even worse conditions, as seen in Sudan, Somalia, and Myanmar, according to a UNHCR report.
“In our warming world, droughts, floods, deadly heat, and other extreme weather events are creating emergencies with alarming frequency,” noted UNHCR head Filippo Grandi.
“Those forced to leave their homes are on the front lines of this crisis,” he added, emphasising that 75% of displaced people live in countries extremely vulnerable to climate-related risks.
“As the pace and scale of climate change increase, this number will only rise,” Grandi predicted.
A record 120 million people worldwide are currently displaced due to war, violence, or persecution, mainly within their own countries, according to UNHCR figures from June.
“Globally, the number of displaced people due to conflict has doubled over the past decade,” UNHCR Climate Action Advisor Andrew Harper told AFP.
Meanwhile, recent data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre indicates that disasters caused by extreme weather forced approximately 220 million people to leave their homes over the past decade.
Harper criticised the significant lack of resources for supporting both those who flee and the communities that host them: “We’re seeing an already nightmarish situation becoming even more difficult.”
Most areas where refugees settle are low-income countries, often “in deserts, flood-prone areas, or regions lacking essential infrastructure to handle the escalating impacts of climate change,” Harper noted.
And the situation is set to worsen: by 2040, the number of countries worldwide facing extreme climate risks is expected to increase from the current three to 65, according to the UNHCR, which noted that many of these countries host displaced populations.
By 2050, most refugee camps and shelters are expected to face twice as many days with dangerously high temperatures as they do now. This poses a direct threat to the health and lives of refugees and endangers crops and livestock, Harper stressed.
“We’re seeing a continuous decrease in arable land in countries vulnerable to extreme climate events—like Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Afghanistan—while simultaneously witnessing a massive increase in their populations,” he explained.
The UNHCR urged leaders and officials attending COP29 to ensure that a greater portion of international funding is allocated to refugees and their host communities.
Currently, highly vulnerable countries receive about $2 per person annually for climate adaptation, compared to $161 per person in less exposed regions, noted the UNHCR.
“If we don’t invest in peace, if we don’t invest in climate adaptation in these areas, people will move,” Harper warned. “It’s unreasonable to expect otherwise.”
Source: ANA-MPA
