Refugee camps uninhabitable by 2050 amid worsening extreme weather

This blog post examines a new UNHCR report warning that many refugee camps could become uninhabitable by 2050 as extreme weather — floods, heatwaves and droughts — intensifies.

Drawing on decades of field experience, I summarise the report’s key findings, highlight the human costs in hotspot regions such as East Africa and the Sahel, and outline pragmatic policy responses that must accompany climate finance decisions at COP30.

Table of Contents

Overview: why the UNHCR report matters

The UNHCR analysis is a sober reminder that climate change is not an abstract future risk for displaced people — it is already reshaping where and how they live.

Emergency shelters and long-term settlements were rarely sited with escalating climate hazards in mind.

Many host areas are now reaching ecological and humanitarian breaking points.

Key findings in plain language

The report compiles alarming statistics and projections that should be headline priorities for COP30 negotiators and national governments alike.

250 million people internally displaced by weather-related disasters in the past decade — roughly 70,000 per day.

75% of displaced people now live in countries with high or extreme climate hazard exposure.

In parts of Chad, refugees are receiving less than 10 liters of water per day, well under emergency standards.

By 2050, camps in countries such as Gambia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal and Mali could face nearly 200 days of extreme heat stress per year.

Three-quarters of Africa’s land is deteriorating, with over half of refugee settlements in high-stress areas — aggravating food and water scarcity and raising the risk of conflict.

Conflict-affected host countries receive only about 25% of the climate finance they need to respond to these pressures.

Drivers of deterioration: land, water and heat

These trends are not isolated.

Climate extremes compound long-term land degradation, weak infrastructure and political fragility.

When ecosystems fail, livelihoods collapse and competition for scarce resources intensifies.

This often creates cycles of displacement and instability.

Regional hotspots and human impacts

East Africa, the Horn, Pakistan and parts of South Asia already experience overlapping crises of floods, drought and heat.

In camp settings, where shelter, sanitation and water systems are improvised and tightly packed, the margin for coping is slim.

The UNHCR figures are particularly stark for camps in the Sahel and parts of West Africa, where decades of environmental decline meet acute humanitarian need.

As a field practitioner, I have seen how even one season of crop failure or an intense flood can push a whole community into chronic displacement.

What must change: finance, adaptation, protection

Technical fixes alone will not suffice.

The report’s core policy implication is clear: climate finance must be directed to frontline host communities and refugee settlements with urgency and scale.

Priority policy actions

Increase targeted climate finance for conflict-affected host countries to at least match assessed need.

Invest in nature-based solutions and resilient water systems in and around camps to reduce immediate humanitarian risk.

Mainstream early-warning systems and heat-mitigation measures into camp planning and construction.

Link humanitarian response with development funding to prevent repeated displacement cycles and build durable local capacity.

Filippo Grandi’s call at COP30 — to prioritise frontline communities in climate funding — is not an abstract appeal.

It is a practical roadmap: without urgent investment, millions more people will face escalating danger, instability and repeated movement.

The clock to act runs short.

The choices at COP30 will determine whether refugee camps become refuges or unlivable traps by mid-century.

Here is the source article for this story: Refugee camps set to be uninhabitable by 2050 as extreme weather worsens