Climate change is transforming the global humanitarian landscape. Refugees, internally displaced and stateless people are at the forefront of this crisis: more than 75% live in countries highly vulnerable to climate hazards. As phenomena such as droughts, floods or extreme storms intensify, displacement risks increase, particularly in contexts that are already affected by poverty, institutional fragility and insecurity.
In this scenario, COP30 - being held in the Amazon, a key territory both for its biodiversity and its vulnerability - offers a crucial opportunity to make this nexus between climate and human mobility visible. At UNHCR, we advocate for climate action that integrates protection of those forced to flee as key actors in building resilience and sustainability.
Our response to the impact of climate change in displacement contexts through three strategic lines of action: prevention, preparedness and sustainable solutions. This includes:
- Assessing climate risks for displaced people and host communities
- Strengthening local response capacities
- Advocating for greater inclusion in national and international climate planning frameworks
A key priority is the inclusion of displaced persons (including refugees) in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These instruments define how countries prepare for climate impacts and access international finance. Their openness to integrating displaced and host communities is essential for a just climate transition. This approach also reflects key priorities under the Brazilian presidency of COP30, including nature-based solutions, indigenous peoples' leadership and climate justice. Hosting COP30 in the Amazon further amplifies the urgency and relevance of these issues for displaced people.
To move from planning to action, we promote innovative models that integrate environmental restoration, protection and community resilience. One example of this is the Refugee Environmental Protection Fund (REP Fund), a mechanism that channels investments into reforestation initiatives and clean cooking methods in displacement contexts, connecting them to voluntary carbon markets.
The REP Fund has mobilized over USD 7 million. Its first pilot projects in Uganda and Rwanda, set to begin implementation in 2025, will benefit 90,000 households and restore over 20,000 hectares. These will be among the first carbon credits generated in displacement settings, verified and registered under international standards such as Gold Standard—cementing our leadership in using innovative climate financing in humanitarian settings.
At Brazil, we have initiated a feasibility study in the state of Roraima, focused on indigenous communities hosting Venezuelan displaced persons. The areas of analysis include indigenous territories such as São Marcos, Raposa Serra do Sol and Tabalascada, where Macuxi, Taurepang, Wapichana and Pemon-Taurepang peoples live, many of them in a situation of forced cross-border mobility. The study will evaluate the possibility of implementing reforestation projects with carbon credit financing, adapting each intervention to the ecological and socio-cultural context.
These initiatives not only seek to restore degraded ecosystems and generate green jobs, but also to empower communities through the generation and monetization of carbon credits, strengthening their climate resilience and economic autonomy. The results of the study will be available before COP30, with the aim of defining concrete interventions that combine climate action, international protection and environmental justice. Designed as a ten-year platform, the REP Fund seeks to scale these interventions to other displacement contexts in Africa, Latin America and beyond, broadening their climate and social impact globally.
Looking toward Belém, we will center our participation around four main goals:
- Include forced displacement in adaptation, finance, and loss and damage discussions and decisions.
- Ensure displaced people and host communities have real access to climate solutions.
- Mobilize partnerships to scale innovative mechanisms such as the REP Fund.
- Promote a people-centered climate transition that combines climate justice and international protection.
At COP30, we will co-host official events and engage in strategic forums to present concrete results from our pilots, build new partnerships, and elevate forced displacement as a central issue on the global climate agenda. These responses must incorporate gender-sensitive and intersectional approaches, recognizing that women, girls, and other marginalized groups face distinct risks and barriers in climate crisis contexts.
Achieving these objectives requires that the impact ecosystem - philanthropic stakeholders, investment funds, social entrepreneurs, the private sector and governments - take a more proactive approach coordinated response to climate displacement. This involves channeling resources towards solutions that integrate community-based adaptation, resilient livelihoods, clean technologies and social protection. It also requires fostering partnerships with local organizations and displaced people themselves, not only as beneficiaries but also as agents of change, recognizing and strengthening their leadership in identifying, designing and implementing sustainable climate responses. Incorporating the human dimension of climate change into impact investment agendas is not only a matter of justice: it is a condition for sustainability.
In Belém, we will reaffirm our commitment to climate action that prioritizes those most in need. Because protecting people forced to flee is also protecting the collective future of our planet.
For more information about our work related to COP30, the REP Fund, and how to support these efforts, please contact:
- Pilar Pedrinelli, UNHCR Innovative Finance Officer (REP Fund Manager), pedrinel@unhcr.org
- Juan Blanco Ramos, UNHCR Innovative Financing Officer (Partnerships), blancora@unhcr.org
