UNHCR warns nearly 90 million displaced people face high climate risks as COP31 highlights urgent need for protection

 

We continue with The Discourse, and now we focus on the human impact of climate change, particularly on people who have been forced to flee their homes.

As the United Nations climate summit, COP31, gets under way in Antalya, Türkiye, a recent report by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warns that nearly 90 million displaced people worldwide are living in countries with high or extreme exposure to climate hazards.

Many of these communities face droughts, floods and rising temperatures, often with limited resources to cope.

So, how is climate change affecting displaced people, and what more needs to be done to protect them?

To discuss this, we spoke to Jana Birner, a climate action expert at UNHCR, who recently visited the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya to hear directly from people affected by climate change.