Nearly 90 million forcibly displaced people are living in countries increasingly exposed to climate-related droughts, floods and extreme heat, the UN refugee agency has warned, in a report that lays bare how conflict and a warming climate are compounding each other’s harm.
The report, published by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ahead of the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, finds that nearly three-quarters of the world’s forcibly displaced people live in countries facing severe climate risks, including Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
“Climate adaptation in fragile and displacement-affected areas is a matter of survival,” said Anton Leis Garcia, UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for operations. “We need climate financing to reach the communities where the needs are greatest.”
The report illustrates the strain through the experience of a Sudanese refugee who fled fighting in al-Fashir in June 2023 for the Farchana settlement in eastern Chad. She sometimes goes a week without finding safe water and must walk ever longer distances for alternative supplies as nearby seasonal riverbeds dry up in intensifying heat.
Climate change is also making it harder for displaced people to return home for good. In the first half of 2026, more than two-thirds of refugee returns were to countries highly exposed to climate hazards, leaving returnees at risk of being displaced again, the report said.
In Syria, where nearly four million displaced people have recently returned, people face worsening water scarcity and erratic rainfall. Flooding along the Euphrates in May damaged homes and displaced thousands more, according to the report.
The risks are set to grow. Across sub-Saharan Africa, one in three refugee settlements could experience at least 100 days of dangerous heat each year by 2050. In some settlements in Ethiopia, including Helaweyn, dangerous heat could persist for more than 200 days a year, raising the risks of heatstroke and premature death.
“Refugees often have limited access to cooling, water and reliable energy, making it harder to escape dangerous temperatures,” the report said.
UNHCR also warned that a forecast supersized El Niño could worsen climate risks in many refugee-hosting countries and trigger further displacement. In East Africa, severe flooding could displace up to three million people in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda by the end of this year. In the Sahel, drought, flooding and conflict could intensify competition over scarce resources, while parts of Asia face heightened risks of droughts, floods and cyclones.
The agency called on governments and climate-finance institutions meeting at COP31 to increase funding for climate adaptation, noting that only about 10 per cent of climate finance reaches fragile or conflict-affected countries. A separate UN report published on Wednesday found rich countries were falling well short of the $305 billion a year needed to help developing nations adapt to climate change.
The findings in this article are drawn from the UNHCR report as reported by Reuters; the agency’s figures have not been independently verified by The Hourly News.
Sources: Reuters — “90 million displaced people at risk from climate threats, UN refugee agency says” (https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/90-million-displaced-people-risk-climate-threats-un-refugee-agency-says-2026-11-05/)
