UN: Climate disasters have displaced 250 million people in a decade

Climate-fuelled disasters have uprooted hundreds of millions over the past decade, the UN warned ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, saying global willpower to act is faltering even as the crisis deepens.

The UN refugee agency’s report No Escape II: The Way Forward said weather-related catastrophes have forced “some 250 million internal displacements, equivalent to over 67,000 per day” in the last ten years. It added that climate change is now “compounding and multiplying” the suffering of those already displaced by war and poverty.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi called the trend devastating:

“Extreme weather is destroying homes and livelihoods, and forcing families, many who have already fled violence, to flee once more.” He warned that refugee camps in Africa could face “nearly 200 days of hazardous heat stress per year” by 2050.

The agency said its efforts are being crippled by funding cuts, with the US under Donald Trump slashing foreign aid and other donor nations tightening budgets.

“This COP must deliver real action, not empty promises,” Grandi said.

As 50,000 delegates gather in Belem to hash out the next steps, tensions are rising over Europe’s new carbon border tax, which poorer nations call “green protectionism.”