“Whether it’s floods ravaging South Sudan and Brazil, record heat in Kenya and Pakistan, or water shortages in Chad and Ethiopia, extreme weather is pushing already fragile communities to the brink. » said the UN agency.
Over the past decade, weather-related disasters have caused 250 million internal displacements, the equivalent of around 70,000 people per day, or two displacements every three seconds. Returns to Syria and Afghanistan this year have contributed to a decrease in global travel compared to 2024.
Frontline struggle
In a new report, UNHCR also highlighted that three in four uprooted people now live in countries where frontline communities face “high to extreme” exposure to climate-related risks.
“Extreme weather further endangers people’s safety; it disrupts access to essential services, destroys homes and livelihoods and forces families – many of whom have already fled violence – to flee once again,” said Filippo Grandi, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“These are people who have already endured immense loss, and now they face the same hardship and devastation again. They are among the hardest hit by severe droughts, deadly floods and record heatwaves, and yet they have the fewest resources to recover.”
Protection system deployed
Across the world, refugees’ basic survival systems are already under strain, UNHCR has warned.
In some flood-hit areas of Chad, for example, newly arrived refugees fleeing war in neighboring Sudan are receiving less than 10 liters of water per day, well below emergency standards.
The data also indicates that by 2050, the hottest refugee camps could face almost 200 days of extreme heat stress per year, with serious risks to health and survival.
“Many of these places are at risk of becoming uninhabitable due to the deadly combination of extreme heat and high humidity,” the UN refugee agency said.
Threat of land degradation in Africa
It noted that 1.2 million refugees returned home by early 2025, but half of that number arrived in “climate vulnerable” areas. At the same time, the UNHCR also noted that 75 percent of the land on the African continent is deteriorating and that more than one in two refugee camps are located in “high tension” areas.
“This reduces access to food, water and income,” the UN agency insisted, leading to recruitment into armed groups in parts of the Sahel, fueling conflict and repeated displacement.
Despite growing needs, the funding gap and what UNHCR calls “a deeply inequitable climate finance system” have left millions of people unprotected. Today, conflict-affected countries hosting refugees receive only a quarter of the climate finance they need, while the vast majority of global climate finance never reaches displaced communities or their hosts.
“Budget cuts significantly limit our ability to protect refugees and displaced families from the effects of extreme weather,” Grandi said, speaking on the opening day of the UN COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil.
“If we want stability, we must invest where people are most at risk,” added the UNHCR chief. “To prevent further displacement, climate finance must reach communities already living on the margins. They cannot be left alone. This COP must result in real actions, and not empty promises.
Main findings of the UNHCR report:
• Three in four refugees or people displaced by conflict currently live in countries facing high to extreme exposure to climate-related hazards. • 1.2 million refugees have returned home by early 2025, half to climate-vulnerable areas. • 75 percent of land in Africa is deteriorating, with more than half of refugee settlements located in high-stress areas. • Nearly all current refugee camps will face an unprecedented increase in heat dangerous. By 2050, the world’s fifteen hottest refugee camps – located in Gambia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal and Mali – are expected to face nearly 200 or more days of dangerous heat stress per year. • By 2040, the number of countries facing extreme weather hazards could increase from three to 65. • Since April 2023, nearly 1.3 million people flee the Sudanese conflict have sought refuge in South Sudan and Chad, two countries among the least equipped to deal with the growing climate emergency.
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