As world leaders gather in Belém, Brazil for the COP30 Climate Summit, the United Nations has issued a stark warning: climate change has already forced over 250 million people from their homes in the past decade - a crisis it says will accelerate without immediate global action.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that weather-related disasters now account for 70% of all new displacements worldwide, with floods, wildfires, droughts, and rising sea levels uprooting communities from the Sahel to Southeast Asia.
“This is not a distant scenario — it’s happening right now,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “Entire populations are being pushed to the brink, not by war, but by the planet itself.”
A Human Tide Fueled by a Heating Planet
According to the UNHCR’s new data, an average of 24 million people per year have been displaced by climate-related events since 2015. The agency warns that number could double by 2050, especially across vulnerable regions in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia where adaptation systems remain underfunded.
In Bangladesh alone, rising sea levels have already displaced more than four million people, while prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa continues to trigger cross-border migration.
“These are not natural disasters — they are political ones,” said Greta Thunberg, speaking from the COP30 youth summit. “The failure to act is a choice, and it’s costing millions their homes.”
