Bangla Press Desk: Approximately 90 million displaced people worldwide are at risk from droughts, floods, and severe heatwaves driven by climate change, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The agency reports that nearly three-quarters of the world’s forcibly displaced people reside in countries facing an escalating risk of climate-related disasters. This not only threatens their livelihoods but also creates the prospect of further displacement should they attempt to return to their home countries. To address this, the UNHCR has called for an increase in climate funding specifically for these vulnerable populations.
According to the news agency Reuters, these findings were presented in a UNHCR report released on Friday (November 6). The report notes that about three-quarters of the world’s forcibly displaced individuals live in nations—such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh—that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Published ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP) in Antalya, Turkey, the report highlights the complex link between conflict, displacement, and climate change.
Raouf Mazou, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, stated, "For people living in conflict-affected areas and those who have been displaced, adapting to climate change has become a matter of survival."
He added, "We must ensure that climate funding reaches the communities that need it the most."
The report also shares the experience of a refugee from Sudan who fled the conflict in El Fasher in June 2023 and sought shelter in the Farchana refugee camp in eastern Chad. The refugee recounted that, at times, he has had to wait up to a week to find safe drinking water. With local seasonal riverbeds drying up, he is now forced to travel much greater distances to locate alternative water sources—a challenge further compounded by extreme heat.
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