UN warns of millions displaced by climate change as COP30 kicks off in Brazil | Climate crisis news

Climate-related disasters and conflicts have displaced millions of people around the world, the United Nations warned ahead of the opening of its annual climate change conference.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a report released Monday to coincide with the opening of the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) in Brazil that weather-related disasters have forced some 250 million people from their homes over the past decade.

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The migration agency released its second major report on the effect of climate change on refugees – No Escape II: The Way Forward – ahead of COP 30, as it appears that countries' enthusiasm for agreeing action to limit climate change continues to wane.

“Over the past decade, weather-related disasters have caused an estimated 250 million internal displacements – equivalent to more than 67,000 displacements per day,” the report said.

UNHCR added that climate change is also increasing the difficulties faced by those displaced by conflict and other drivers.

“Climate change compounds and multiplies the challenges facing those who have already been displaced as well as their hosts, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected environments,” he continues.

Flooding in South Sudan and Brazil, record heat in Kenya and Pakistan, and water shortages in Chad and Ethiopia are among the disasters noted in the report.

The number of countries facing extreme exposure to climate-related hazards is projected to increase from three to 65 by 2040.

These 65 countries host more than 45 percent of all people currently displaced by conflict, it added.

“Extreme weather … is destroying homes and livelihoods and forcing families – many of whom have already fled the violence – to flee again,” UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement.

“These are people who have already experienced huge losses and are now facing the same hardship and devastation again. They are among the hardest hit by severe droughts, deadly floods and record heat waves, yet they have the fewest resources to rebuild,” he said.

By 2050, the report says, the world's 15 hottest refugee camps – in Gambia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal and Mali – are expected to experience nearly 200 days of dangerous heat stress per year.

Weakening of engagement

The refugee agency's report highlights that while the effects of climate change are growing, commitment to tackling it is waning.

UNHCR hopes to galvanize efforts to combat the fallout from the conference in Brazil.

Under President Donald Trump, the United States, traditionally the world's largest donor, has cut foreign aid.

Washington previously accounted for more than 40 percent of UNHCR's budget. Other major donor countries were also tightening their belts.

“Cutting funding severely limits our ability to protect refugees and displaced families from the effects of extreme weather,” Grandy said.

“To prevent further displacement, climate finance must reach communities already living on the edge,” he said. “This COP must deliver real action, not empty promises.”

Some 50,000 participants from more than 190 countries will meet in Belem, in the Amazon rainforest, to discuss curbing the climate crisis.

One topic on the agenda revealing the difficulties in agreeing global action is the European Union's Carbon Limit Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

The policy is designed to prevent “carbon leakage” by requiring importers of carbon-intensive goods such as steel and cement to pay the same price for embedded emissions as EU producers face in the internal market.

While the EU promotes CBAM as a necessary environmental tool to promote greener practices, critics of the policy, including major trading partners such as the US and China, see it as a veiled act of protectionism.

Meanwhile, developing nations are concerned that this unfairly shifts the financial burden of climate action onto them.