Key facts
- UNHCR said nearly three-quarters of the world's forcibly displaced people live in countries exposed to severe climate-related risks, citing Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
- UNHCR said only about 10% of climate finance reaches fragile or conflict-affected countries, and called on COP31 attendees to raise adaptation funding.
- UNHCR said one in three refugee settlements in sub-Saharan Africa could face at least 100 days of dangerous heat each year by 2050.
- UNHCR said severe flooding could displace up to 3 million people in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda by the end of 2026.
- UNHCR said nearly 4 million displaced people have recently returned to Syria, where water scarcity and erratic rainfall are worsening.
- Anton Leis Garcia of UNHCR said climate adaptation in displacement-affected areas is "a matter of survival."
Nearly 90 million forcibly displaced people are living in countries increasingly exposed to climate-related droughts, floods and extreme heat, the UN refugee agency said on November 6, warning ahead of the COP31 climate summit that more funding is needed to help vulnerable communities adapt.
Nearly three-quarters of the world's forcibly displaced people live in countries such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh that face severe climate-related risks, according to the report by the agency, known as UNHCR, published ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Antalya, Turkey. The findings show the overlap between conflict, displacement and climate change, the report said.
"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," he said.
The report described a Sudanese refugee who fled conflict in al-Fashir in June 2023 to the Farchana refugee settlement in eastern Chad. She said she sometimes goes a week without finding safe water and must walk increasingly long distances for alternative sources as nearby seasonal riverbeds dry up.
UNHCR also warned that climate change is making it harder for displaced people to return home sustainably. In the first half of 2026, more than two-thirds of refugee returns were to countries highly exposed to climate hazards, the report said. In Syria, where nearly 4 million displaced people have recently returned, people face worsening water scarcity and erratic rainfall, and flooding along the Euphrates River in May damaged homes and displaced thousands, according to the report.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, one in three refugee settlements could experience at least 100 days of dangerous heat each year by 2050, the report said. In some settlements in Ethiopia, including Helaweyn, dangerous heat could persist for more than 200 days a year, it said.
UNHCR warned that a forecast supersized El Nino could worsen climate-related risks in many refugee-hosting countries. In East Africa, severe flooding could displace up to 3 million people in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda by the end of 2026, UNHCR said.
UNHCR called on governments and climate-finance institutions meeting at COP31 to increase funding for climate adaptation, noting that only about 10% of climate finance reaches fragile or conflict-affected countries. A separate UN report on November 4 found rich countries were falling well short of the $305 billion needed each year to help developing nations adapt.