UN creates fund to help refugees face climate shocks

In 2022, more than 70% of refugees and asylum seekers came from countries highly exposed to climate change.

The UN launched a fund to support refugees and internally displaced people in the face of climate shocks on Wednesday April 24. This initiative aims to raise $100 million by the end of 2025. In a press release, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) explains that its work to strengthen resilience to climate change is already part of its protection and aid activities provided to more than 114 million people around the world.

“The effects of climate change are increasingly devastating, exacerbating conflicts, destroying livelihoods and ultimately causing population displacement”, underlined the head of the UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, in the press release. In 2022, more than 70% of refugees and asylum seekers came from countries highly exposed to climate change.

Protecting the most threatened communities

“Among the countries that have been the most generous in welcoming refugees, many are also those most affected by the effects of climate change”, also recalled Filippo Grandi. But “Funding allocated to combating the effects of climate change does not benefit forcibly displaced people, nor the communities that host them”. The Fund will thus give priority to 22 priority countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen, Cameroon, Chad and Ethiopia.

According to UNHCR, the new fund will finance initiatives aimed at protecting the most threatened communities “by giving them the means not only to prepare for the risks linked to climate change, but also to face and overcome them”.

It must therefore provide environmentally sustainable resources in displacement areas. This could be achieved, for example, by providing more clean energy to operate water infrastructure, such as schools and health services. It will also make it possible to build shelters adapted to climate change.