Nearly 90 million displaced facing severe climate risks

Three-quarters of the world's displaced people live in countries facing severe exposure to climate-related hazards, the United Nations said on Friday (Nov 5), calling for urgent action to protect them.



Days before the COP31 climate conference in Turkey, a UN refugee agency report said nearly 90 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people faced severe risks linked to a warming planet.

"Refugees face a double injustice," Anton Leis Garcia, UNHCR's assistant high commissioner for operations, said in a statement.

"Forced to flee conflicts they did not cause, they are now on the frontlines of a climate crisis they have contributed least to."



People forced to flee conflict, violence and persecution find themselves in places grappling with severe droughts, deadly floods and extreme heat, the organisation pointed out.

Climate change was also increasingly threatening the prospect of lasting solutions for displaced people, UNHCR said.