The UNHCR reports roughly 250 million climate-related internal displacements over the past decade — about 67,000 per day — and warns that climate shocks and conflict reinforce each other. Three-quarters of conflict-displaced people live in countries highly vulnerable to climate impacts. The agency notes floods, extreme heat and water shortages in several countries and says only a quarter of adaptation funding reaches conflict-affected nations. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi urged COP30 delegates to invest in at-risk communities and turn pledges into concrete action.
UNHCR: Climate Crisis Has Already Forced Millions from Their Homes — COP30 Called to Deliver
The UNHCR reports roughly 250 million climate-related internal displacements over the past decade — about 67,000 per day — and warns that climate shocks and conflict reinforce each other. Three-quarters of conflict-displaced people live in countries highly vulnerable to climate impacts. The agency notes floods, extreme heat and water shortages in several countries and says only a quarter of adaptation funding reaches conflict-affected nations. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi urged COP30 delegates to invest in at-risk communities and turn pledges into concrete action.
11:09 AM, 11/10/2025Environment
UNHCR: Climate change already displacing millions
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warns that the consequences of climate change have already driven millions of people from their homes, releasing sobering figures ahead of the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil.
"Over the past decade, weather-related disasters have caused some 250 million internal displacements — equivalent to over 67,000 displacements per day,"
The agency highlights a dangerous feedback loop in which climate shocks and conflict intensify one another: roughly three-quarters of people displaced by conflict live in countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts.
Examples of climate-linked crises
UNHCR cites recent events including severe floods in South Sudan and Brazil, record heat waves in Kenya and Pakistan, and acute water shortages in Chad and Ethiopia — all of which have compounded humanitarian needs and driven population movements.
The report emphasizes that climate change is aggravating the hardships faced by displaced people and the communities hosting them, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings where resources and infrastructure are already strained.
Alarmingly, only about one quarter of international climate adaptation funding has reached countries threatened by conflict — many of which also host large numbers of refugees and internally displaced people.
Filippo Grandi, UNHCR High Commissioner: "If we want stability, we must invest where people are most at risk. To prevent further displacement, climate financing needs to reach the communities already living on the edge."
Grandi urged delegates at COP30 to turn commitments into concrete action: "This COP must deliver real action, not empty promises."
About 50,000 participants from more than 190 countries are expected to gather in Belém, in Brazil's Amazon region, for two weeks of negotiations and discussions on how to slow the climate emergency and mitigate its human cost.
The UNHCR report underscores that without targeted finance and urgent policy action, climate-driven displacement will continue to rise — amplifying instability and humanitarian need worldwide.