Five stories about climate action to inspire you
Learn how refugees around the world are helping in the global fight against climate change
Climate change and natural disasters can contribute to — or worsen — threats faced by refugees who have been uprooted due to conflict, poverty or persecution. With climate-related displacement already a reality, UNHCR is taking action to help those affected.
UNHCR is working with partners, host communities and refugees to provide support to persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change. With more environmental disasters happening every year, the amount of people who need protection from climate-related events continues to grow.
From saving lives during environmental disasters to using renewable energy, here are five stories of how UNHCR is working in support of refugees around the world to help combat climate change.
How planting trees is breathing life into refugee settlements
Few people know the risks and realities of losing everything — including their homes — better than refugees. For the millions who have fled because of war, violence and persecution, the looming threat of climate inaction is already too real.
That’s why Bidal, a South Sudanese refugee living in Uganda, is working to plant trees in the host community. At just 32, Bidal has already fled his home in South Sudan three times because of the ongoing war. Each time he made it safely to neighbouring Uganda, he noticed fewer trees along the route.
“Planting trees is important because trees are life…if one day we go back to South Sudan we can leave this place as we found it,” Bidal says.
By planting trees, Bidal and others are fighting deforestation and providing wood so refugee families can create their own shelter. More than 1.1 million trees have been planted in the West Nile region since 2017. “We don’t give up. We continue,” Bidal says.
A solar-powered water facility is saving refugees in Uganda
When Asha first arrived in Uganda, there was so little water she had to drink from a swamp to quench her thirst.
Asha fled South Sudan to Uganda’s Bidibidi refugee settlement in 2016 at the height of an emergency that saw thousands cross the border every day. Water was scarce then, making it hard for her to care for her five children.
“There was a lot of illness. We would drink any water we could find,” Asha says.
Trucks delivered water from a source 100 kilometres away on poor roads. Refugees had to wait in line for hours to fill as many jerry cans as they could carry.
Twenty litres per person is the minimum amount of water UNHCR aims to provide for refugees like Asha each day. But with climate change making it difficult to make water supply available, UNHCR can only reach this goal in 43 per cent of camps. At one point, the the supply in Bidibidi refugee settlement averaged just 2.3 litres a day.
Thankfully, things have changed for Asha and other refugees. UNHCR is investing in drilling boreholes to create deep wells in camps, which can provide enough drinking water for 20 years. In Asha’s community, a solar-powered borehole has been set up that pumps groundwater to points close to almost 500 households.
“We have the capacity to pump 85,000 litres of water per hour, but we are only extracting 45,000 litres because we do not want to deplete the aquifers,” says Richard Ochaya, UNHCR’s Senior Water and Sanitation and Health Associate in Bidibidi. “We need to manage the resource and take care of the environment.”
Making Minawao refugee camp green
In the far northeast corner of Cameroon, the land is sandy, dry and scorched by the searing sun of the African Sahel. But that hasn’t stopped Minawao refugee camp from planting tens of thousands of trees and going green.
The Minawao region is facing critical deforestation because of unsustainable cultivation practices and rising temperatures caused by climate change. The arrival of 56,000 Nigerian refugees, who have escaped violence in their country, has also put a huge pressure on a region where natural resources are scarce. The process of fertile land becoming desert is already underway. As the camp continued to grow, refugees needed to cut down the trees for firewood and shelter materials. Now, they want to help make the camp green again.
Together with Nigerian refugees, UNHCR and its partners have started a reforestation project which will plant over 20,000 trees in Minawao refugee camp.
“It’s important that we create a sustainable environment which benefits both host and refugee communities,” says Fanta Nifaboum, UNHCR’s deputy chief in Maroua, Cameroon. “And when the refugees ultimately return home, they will leave behind a greener and more developed village.”
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Emergency monsoon training saving Rohingya refugee lives
Rohingya refugee volunteer Hossain was watching children play in the rising waters of a reservoir in Nayapara refugee camp in Bangladesh while monsoon rains fell relentlessly. Then, he heard a shout.
“A 14-year-old boy jumped into water after playing football. He thought the water wasn’t very deep so he enthusiastically leapt in,” Hossain explains. “After a few moments, I saw that he was drowning. I called my other five teammates and we immediately rescued him.”
It was a dramatic real-life test of an emergency scenario that Hossain and his colleagues had been trained for just days earlier.
Refugee volunteers like Hossain are at the forefront of efforts to protect residents of refugee settlements during the monsoon season. The extreme environmental events can bring torrential downpours of rain in short periods of time, posing many safety risks for refugees who live there.
The settlements in southeast Bangladesh are home to nearly one million refugees. They are studded with reservoirs and ponds that quickly fill up during the monsoon. More than 200 refugees have already received training as lifeguards to help save those who get into difficulties during the wet season.
UNHCR and its partners continue to provide training for refugees so they can respond to such emergencies. The inspiring action of Hossain and his colleagues help refugees protect each other from monsoons, which have become more erratic as a result of climate change.
Climate change and displacement: UNHCR’s climate action plan
Jafar’s home is expected to be underwater in 25 years.
Twenty years ago, Kutubdia in Bangladesh was a fertile land where farmers could grow paddy. Now, because of the effects of climate change, the only crop that they can harvest is salt. Jafar, a Bangladeshi salt farmer, is barely able to earn his living and fears becoming displaced. If his home and farm goes underwater, he’ll be one of 10 million affected.
Climate change can be a primary driver of people being forced to leave their homes because of a natural disaster. Its effects can also add to the already daunting list of factors causing people to flee.
“People already displaced for reasons other than disasters often reside in climate change ‘hotspots’ and may be forced from their homes for a second time,” says Andrew Harper, UNHCR’s Special Advisor on Climate Action.
UNHCR has helped refugees face climate-related challenges through supplying renewable energy, providing seedlings to reverse deforestation, and mobilizing equipment, volunteers and staff to help clean up litter in refugee communities. The consequences of climate change take many forms, from a decrease in quality of life and an increase of conflict to the inability to farm. As temperatures rise, these problems will become more pronounced, threatening environmental sustainability and driving displacement.
“By not taking urgent action, some of the most vulnerable people who have done the least to create the current crises, are suffering the consequences,” Harper says.
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