Shafaq News – Brazilia

Climate change has driven around 250 million cases of internal displacement worldwide over the past decade — an average of more than 67,000 people forced to move every day, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed on Monday.

The report was released ahead of the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which begins today in Belem, Brazil.

According to the data, three-quarters of people displaced by conflict live in countries that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

It cited examples including floods in South Sudan and Brazil, record-breaking temperatures in Kenya and Pakistan, and severe water shortages in Chad and Ethiopia.

“Climate change is intensifying and compounding the challenges faced by those already displaced, as well as by their host communities — especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings,” the report stated.

UNHCR warned that only a quarter of global funding earmarked for climate adaptation reaches conflict-affected countries, which often host large numbers of refugees.

The annual UN climate conference, known as COP30, frequently serves as a platform for developing nations to call for increased financial support from wealthier countries to cope with worsening environmental conditions.

“If we want stability, we must invest where people are most at risk,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “To prevent further displacement, climate finance must reach the communities already living on the edge,” he added, urging world leaders to deliver on their promises. “This conference must bring real action, not empty pledges.”

Around 50,000 participants from more than 190 countries are gathering in Belém, located in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, for two weeks of negotiations focused on addressing the escalating climate crisis and its destructive effects.

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