Displaced people due to climate crisis could reach billions by 2050, experts

Madrid, Oct 29 (EFE).- The number of displaced people in developing countries as a result of the climate crisis could reach billions by 2050, experts warned.

Currently, it is estimated that some 20 to 30 million people have been displaced due to climate disasters including storms or droughts and food insecurity, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The climate crisis has a greater impact on vulnerable populations because of a lack of resources that allows them to use clean energy sources and thus mitigate climate change, according to Spanish NGO Ecodes.

Areas most affected by droughts, hurricanes or floods are also those that suffer most from food insecurity especially in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said.

“In Africa alone, there are more than 20 million climate displaced people per year. The lack of resources can lead to conflicts and the migration of thousands of people fleeing Syria, the Sahel, Sudan or Somalia,” associate director of Ecodes, Mario Rodriguez, told Efe.

Poorer populations are also more subject to extreme weather events because their housing can often not withstand extreme temperatures and weather conditions.

Rodriguez says the impact of climate change on vulnerable groups “is not valued in its full dimension” and urged leaders at the COP26 to take into account marginalized populations in climate action policies. EFE

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