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Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy

Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

  • Publication | 2024

No Escape - On the frontlines of climate change, conflict and forced displacement

The climate crisis is a human crisis. How you expe- rience it depends on who you are and where you live. Millions of people across the globe continue to be forced to flee their homes because of violence, conflict, and climate-related hazards. In fact, the number of forcibly displaced people in the world to- day has never been higher – doubling to more than 120 million people over the past 10 years. Whether short-lived or protracted, forced dis- placement brings unimaginable loss and suffer- ing. While conflict remains the primary driver of displacement, climate change can aggravate an al- ready devastating reality. Its impacts disproportion- ately affect the world’s most vulnerable populations – including refugees, people displaced by conflict, and the communities hosting them. Often lacking critical resources such as stable housing, financial security, institutional support, or access to essen- tial services, displaced people now also struggle to prepare for, adapt or recover from disasters like floods, droughts, and heatwaves. The climate crisis is not happening in a vacuum. This report addresses the intersection between climate change, conflict and forced displacement. Although complex and multidimensional, these linkages are undeniably influencing the ways peo- ple experience forced displacement and whether they are forced to move again. The plight of displaced populations, and the communities hosting them has often been under- reported and their voices excluded and margin- alized. This report analyses the current realities and reveals a story of immense scale: 90 million displaced people are living in countries with high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related haz- ards and nearly half out of all forcibly displaced people are bearing the burden of both conflict and the adverse effects of climate change. These include countries like Sudan, Syria, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Somalia. (Craparo, et al., forthcoming).