There are more than 110 million displaced people worldwide – an all time high, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. More than 70% are from highly climate-vulnerable countries.
“Many of the countries that have been the most generous in accepting refugees are also the most impacted by the climate crisis,” says Filippo Grandi of UNHCR.
The organization has launched a fund to cushion the impacts of climate change for displaced people and their host communities. It will direct capital to climate-related projects in Bangladesh, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and other countries where the UNHCR is responding to conflict-related displacement.
Loss and damage
Who pays for climate devastation has long been a sticking point in international climate finance. Low-income and highly climate-vulnerable countries scored a win at last year’s COP28 climate summit with the creation of a “loss and damage” fund to funnel money from the wealthy countries responsible for climate change to disaster relief and recovery in vulnerable nations.
In the spirit of the fund, Grandi said UNHCR is committed “to advocate and significantly increase funding to support climate action in fragile environments.”
