UNHCR says 250m people displaced globally in 10 years
Nigeria has been estimated to lose over $100 billion yearly due to the impacts of climate change, including flooding, desertification, deforestation and air pollution.
Also, more than 150 million Nigerians still live below the poverty line, struggling daily with the consequences of energy insecurity, poor water quality, and environmental degradation.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Environmental Summit Group (NESUG), Rita Michael-Ojo, disclosed this at the Legislative Roundtable on Climate, Environment, and Sustainable Health organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMOH), and the NESUG in collaboration with the National Assembly in Abuja.
According to her, Nigeria stands today at the crossroads of energy, environment, and health, which are the three pillars upon which our future rests.
Ojo emphasised the need to rise above silos and politics to build an environmentally secure, energy-efficient, and health-resilient Nigeria that serves as a model for Africa and the world.
MEANWHILE, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed yesterday that climate-related disasters have forcibly displaced approximately 250 million people globally over the past decade, equivalent to 70,000 people every day.
The UN agency, in a new report, disclosed that floods, storms, droughts, and extreme heat were among the weather conditions driving conflict and displacement, alongside slow-onset disasters such as desertification, rising sea levels, and ecosystem destruction, which threaten food and water security.
According to the UNHCR, in mid-2025, 117 million people were displaced by war, violence and persecution, a dire human rights crisis indicating that the climate emergency is rapidly intensifying.
The agency said the climate crisis was a “risk multiplier” that exposed and compounded existing inequalities and injustices, including the impact of conflict, violence and forced displacement within and across borders, while the number of countries reporting both conflict and disaster-related displacement has tripled since 2009.
UNHCR’s second major report on the impacts of climate refugees, released yesterday, stated that conflict-affected countries hosting refugees receive only a quarter of the climate finance they require.
