90 mil. displaced people at risk from climate threats, UN refugee agency says

GENEVA — 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 Friday, 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 are living in countries such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh that are exposed to 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 highlighted the experience of a Sudanese refugee who fled conflict in al-Fashir in June 2023 to the Farchana refugee settlement in eastern