Climate-induced displacement

As environmental destruction intensifies, disasters caused by climate change impact livelihoods all around the world. A response to these extreme challenges can include migration, which occurs either voluntarily or involuntarily, chosen preemptively as an adaptive strategy or forced by emergencies.

However, some people intentionally choose to remain in their homes due to strong cultural ties or a lack of capacity to move due to financial issues. While the full picture of climate mobility is important to understand, this post will focus mainly on involuntary displacement, migration and relocation.

Following 2023 as the hottest year ever recorded, in 2024, Europe experienced its most extensive floods since 2013, leading to the displacement of almost half a million people across the region. Further afield, tropical storms caused severe damage across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, displacing over a million people at once. With the ever-growing impact of climate change, the urgency of well-structured reparations cannot be stressed enough. 

Scale and urgency of the current displacement situation 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that climate extremes and some weather events have become significantly more frequent and intense due to the global impact of human activities, particularly economic and industrial activities. The scale of territories becoming uninhabitable increases alarmingly as a result of sea-level rise and erosion. While livelihoods and settlements are destroyed by floods and storms, people have no choice but to flee their residences. 

Communities in the Global South, war-torn and conflict-impacted areas, are among the most affected. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated that 95% of all people who involuntarily left their homes due to internal conflicts in 2021 were in countries that are at high risk from climate change effects.

Disproportionate impact of climate change and climate-disasters is not only defined by the geographical location, but also by socioeconomic inequalities and inequities, hence aggravating vulnerabilities faced by the communities living in those areas manifold. Older people, women, children, indigenous communities and individuals with health problems are less protected in the face of food scarcity, water scarcity and other threats. Therefore, financial and social differences can make it harder for these groups to stay safe and healthy.

The globally estimated number of people displaced internally because of a climate-related disaster is around 250 million over the past 10 years, with 70,000 displacements happening every day, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Scientists estimate that there could be 1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050, caused by the escalation of intense rainfall, flooding, tropical cyclones and droughts.

Addressing climate displacement through loss and damage and adaptation frameworks 

Reparation and resilience-building efforts aimed at addressing climate-induced displacement are incorporated into the concept of loss and damage (L&D). These efforts involve using climate finance to compensate for unavoidable economic and non-economic losses, such as lost livelihoods and cultural connections, and they are operated through the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD). Additionally, these responses are integrated into adaptation strategies by supporting preventive actions like planned relocation and assistance to host communities, which help build long-term resilience.

UNFCCC Frameworks like the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) and its Task Force on Displacement (TFD) recognise displacement as an indispensable component of Loss and Damage (L&D) beyond adaptation limits. The TFD recommendations (2018) provide a structured framework to “avert, minimise and address displacement” through enhanced risk assessments, early warning systems and integration into L&D funding, recognising economic (livelihoods) and non-economic losses (cultural, social ties). This approach emphasises systematic data on displacement cycles for equitable finance allocation under the Paris Agreement.

Climate finance allocation to support environmentally displaced people 

Addressing climate change means taking necessary measures by utilising climate finance. This must take unfair disadvantages into account. However, the current way of raising, allocating, spending and managing climate finance fails to address historical injustices; namely, that frontline communities that contributed least to the climate crisis are the ones facing extreme climate-related disasters and challenges most frequently and devastatingly.

In 2023, 82 per cent of displacement caused by conflict took place in countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change, yet these countries receive much less climate funding compared to others. A report by the UNHCR, created in collaboration with the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and other organisations, shows that at-risk states get only about $2 per person each year for climate adaptation, while non-fragile states receive $161 per person. Tackling the connection between climate change, conflict and displacement needs more funding and better coordination.

Existing mechanisms, such as the aforementioned FRLD, aim to address gaps in current financial systems by providing new, supplementary and reliable funding to tackle issues such as displacement, migration, crop failures, damage to infrastructure and lack of data. But current financial promises to FRLD amount to $821.74 million, which is much less than the estimated $724.43 billion needed each year to cover both economic and non-economic losses in developing nations, making it significantly underfunded. Additionally, these figures do not include the costs related to displacement, which are typically not considered in loss and damage evaluations.

On top of the large financial gap between the pledged amount and actual loss and damage needs, a $2.4 trillion fossil fuel profits in 2023 and a $2 trillion fossil fuel subsidies increase in 2022 showcase another dimension of unfair financial disparity.

With the ever-growing impact and consequences of climate change, the urgency of governments to facilitate accessible and equitable financial distribution is higher than ever. Thus, industries should adhere to their responsibility, derived from being high emitters, to increase financial contributions to the FRLD to ensure such mechanisms deliver urgent support for disaster relief.

NCQG and historical responsibility 

The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) – the new global climate finance target set to a minimum of $100 billion each year, decided during the 29th meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (COP29), must consist of three separate sub-goals that focus on mitigation, adaptation and Loss and Damage. This structure is essential to ensure clarity, accountability and transparency in monitoring finance flows and ensuring that resources are distributed fairly.

Financial quantum and allocation of a total amount estimated to $6.88 trillion should be provided each year under the NCQG. The financial structure should clearly separate grant-based funding, concessional loans and blended finance. Specifically, Loss and Damage should be fully supported by grants to prevent additional strain on vulnerable economies.

The concept of reparations in the context of climate finance suggests that those historically responsible for causing climate change should also bear the costs associated with environmental damage. This principle is reflected in environmental law through the “polluter pays principle,” which was introduced in the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Additionally, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) acknowledges the concept of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” (CBDR) as a key part of international environmental law. This means that while all countries are expected to take action to address climate change, their level of responsibility is not the same. 

Considering the Global North’s major contribution to the current climate crisis, it bears the historical responsibility for providing the necessary financial assets for disaster recovery. Therefore, the polluter pays principle (PPP) mentioned earlier also reckons remediation costs for reparation and resilience-building as integral in addressing aftermath effects like displacement, alongside prevention and control aspects. The “Fill the Fund” campaign, launched by a global civil society coalition in 2025, directly addresses climate inequities by demanding wealthy countries’ immediate contribution to the underfunded Loss and Damage fund. This campaign seeks to enable funds to reach those affected more quickly, placing human rights and justice at the centre, to prevent displacement and rebuild livelihoods.

Historical emitters should also take more competent actions to tackle climate change. In parallel to actively addressing irrevocable harm, it is also imperative to prevent future disasters. Since COP30 failed to deliver an ambitious plan for fossil fuel phase-out, the pursuit of an adequate level of mitigation is uncertain. A lack of concrete climate mitigation ambition means a continued climate change threat posed to humans and other living beings. “We need to finance a just transition for people irreversibly impacted by climate change. A just transition that guarantees a safe and resilient future for these people requires an immediate and significant scale-up of financial support to address current and future loss and damage.”

One of the key milestones for climate justice occurred last July, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a unanimous Advisory Opinion regarding the obligations of states concerning climate change. Considering the imperative role of climate finance in reparation and resilience-building, the ICJ decision highlighted that international cooperation is a legal requirement, and this includes providing financial support at a level that allows for achieving the temperature targets set out in the Paris Agreement. 

Why does equity matter?

The urgent need to respond to the challenges posed by climate change – and the growing number of people facing displacement due to changing environmental conditions that make staying in their homes unsustainable – requires unique approaches to managing climate mobility.

As if the impact of involuntary displacement and relocation is not damaging enough, additional and compounded vulnerabilities emerge from its interaction with other socioeconomic phenomena like race, class and gender. Thus, such conditions should be taken into consideration when delivering disaster relief and recovery. 

Developed nations have the primary responsibility to fund reparations and resilience-building, considering their total greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of current events. It is also important to note that the communities directly affected by the impacts of the climate crisis are often the ones that have contributed the least to causing it.

Therefore, there is a serious need for increased focus and funding on disaster risk management, emergency response and preventive measures in every country and community.