As part of its mandate to protect and assist over 114 million people forced to flee their homes in the world, The United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched a fund called “Fund for Loss and damage” for climate resiliency aimed at strengthening the protection of displaced communities that are threatened by climate change.
For the first time, the new fund will exclusively finance efforts to protect displaced communities that are most at risk, allowing them to prepare, resist, and recover from climate-related shocks.
The contributions to the fund will increase the remit and the impact of the climate action implemented by UNHCR, allowing even its partners to commit to climate-related projects in the countries where the agency is already responding to cases of forced displacement related to important conflicts, such as Bangladesh, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique.
‘Impact of climate is increasingly devastating’, says head of UNHCR
The UN fund will increase the availability of sustainable resources from the environmental point of view where needed by providing more clean energy to power, for example, water facilities, schools, and health infrastructure used by refugees and those who host them.
It will support environmental restoration, it will invest in resiliency by building climate-resistant shelters, as well as support environmentally-smart livelihood means, and reduce the impact of the humanitarian response on the environment.
“The impact of climate change is becoming increasingly devastating and is exacerbating conflicts, destroying livelihood means, and lastly, causing people to flee”, explained Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“Many countries that were the most generous in sheltering refugees are also the worst hit by the climate crisis. The funds available to face the impact of climate change do not reach those who were forced to flee nor the communities that host them”, he added.
The fund will prioritize projects whose effects are felt locally and that involve the affected communities in terms of the project and its implementation, in addition to being aligned with the climate strategies and national development plans of affected countries.
The aim is to raise 100 million dollars by the end of 2025
Climate risks are highly correlated to conflicts and poverty which affect many refugees and people forced to flee.
In 2022, over 70 percent of refugees and asylum seekers fled from countries highly vulnerable to climate change. Approximately 60 percent of the people forced to flee and of those who are stateless, live in countries that are either fragile or have been hit by conflicts and that are among the most vulnerable to climate change, and the least equipped to adapt to it.
“Reducing the exposure to climate-related risks, guaranteeing access to sustainable resources and promoting inclusion, these projects will tangibly improve the living conditions, security, and the well-being of the refugees, and those hosting them”, explained Grandi.
“In the spirit of the ‘fund for loss and damage’, put in place by COP27, the UNHCR commits itself to support and significantly increase funding for climate actions in fragile environments” he added.
The UNHCR aims to raise 100 million dollars (around 93 million euros) by the end of 2025 to support refugees, their hosting communities, and the countries of origin that have been most strongly affected by the climatic emergency to promote the inclusion of refugees. The fund should become a channel for partners to contribute to the climate planning of the UNHCR, stated a press release from the UN agency.
