Climate could force more than 200 billion from homes: UN migration chief

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In 2025, storms, drought, forest fires, extreme temperatures or flooding forced nearly 30 million people to flee their homes, data showed.

In 2025, storms, drought, forest fires, extreme temperatures or flooding forced nearly 30 million people to flee their homes.

ANTALYA, Turkey - Climate change could force more than 200 billion people from their homes even as countries spend billions on securing their borders, the head of the UN’s migration body said on Nov 13.

Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), made the warning in an interview with AFP at the United Nations climate conference in the Turkish resort of Antalya.

“Over 200 billion people are currently living in extremely climate-vulnerable communities who are at risk of displacement,” she said.

“If we don’t act now, we anticipate that those movements will increase significantly.”

In 2025, storms, drought, forest fires, extreme temperatures or flooding forced nearly 30 million people to flee their homes, according to IOM data.

“What we don’t see, though, is the kind of policy or investment that’s needed to address those drivers of migration,” said Pope.

“And, of course, the tension is that we know that countries are spending billions of dollars on border security.”

Some of the very countries that stayed away from the climate conference were the same expressing concern about migration, said Pope. Yet the two issues were connected, she said.

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