UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has seen its funding from governments slashed and is trying to raise at least $35 million in public donations to help Syrian, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees through the winter.
"Families will have to endure freezing temperatures without things many of us take for granted: a proper roof, insulation, heating, blankets, warm clothes or medicine," UNHCR's external relations chief Dominique Hyde said in a statement.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States, traditionally the world's top donor, has slashed foreign aid.
Washington previously accounted for more than 40 percent of the UNHCR's budget, and other major donor countries have also been tightening their belts, leaving the agency's finances looking bleak.
"Humanitarian budgets are stretched to breaking point and the winter support that we offer will be much less this year," said Hyde.
"We need more funding to help make many lives slightly more tolerable."
UNCHR said it was critical that private donors now step in to help save lives.
"UNHCR plans to raise at least $35 million to help repair homes that have been bombed, insulate houses, provide warmth and blankets to children and the elderly, and money to buy medicines and hot food," it said.
- Millions on the move -
Returning refugees will also be affected, the agency warned.
More than a million Syrian refugees have returned since the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad's regime last December.
UNHCR said many were returning to find their houses destroyed by the 14-year Syrian civil war.
"The most vulnerable families face the cold with nothing to shield them; funding cuts risk leaving 750,000 people without vital support through the season," it said.
More than 2.2 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran this year, some empty-handed, with few prospects and having never set foot in the crisis-riddled country before, UNHCR said.
Two earthquakes in recent months have left families in an even more precarious position.
In Ukraine, temperatures could drop to minus 20C as people face a fourth winter in full-scale war following the 2022 Russian invasion.
"Humanitarian needs continue to grow as intensifying attacks claim civilian lives and destroy infrastructure, cumulatively adding to disruptions to gas, electricity and water," UNHCR said.
The agency said that despite its best efforts, many refugees worldwide would be left with little to shield them from freezing temperatures.
Hyde said: "Our teams are on the ground, determined to protect refugees from the cold -- but we are running out of time and resources."
UN says refugees stuck in vicious cycle of conflict and climatew
Geneva (AFP) Nov 9, 2025 -
Millions of refugees are trapped in a vicious cycle of conflict and climate extremes, the United Nations said Monday, urging the COP30 summit to provide financing for the most vulnerable.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said that within 15 years the places currently hosting nearly half the world's refugees could be facing extreme exposure to climate-related shocks.
"Climate change is not only amplifying existing vulnerabilities -- it is also fuelling displacement trends, creating complex and compounding risks for refugees... leaving many with no escape from its impacts," it said in a report.
It said climate shocks were increasing humanitarian needs and amplifying the risks of repeated displacement.
UNHCR said that by mid-2025, 117 million people had been displaced by war, violence and persecution.
Of those, three in four are living in countries facing high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards, it said.
It added that over the past 10 years, weather-related disasters had caused around 250 million internal displacements within countries.
- Hardship and devastation -
"Extreme weather is... destroying homes and livelihoods, and forcing families -- many who have already fled violence -- to flee once more," UN refugees chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement.
"These are people who have already endured immense loss, and now they face the same hardships and devastation again. They are among the hardest hit by severe droughts, deadly floods and record-breaking heatwaves, yet they have the fewest resources to recover," he said.
The UNHCR said that by 2050, the hottest 15 refugee camps in the world -- in The Gambia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal and Mali -- are projected to experience nearly 200 days of hazardous heat stress per year.
"Many of these locations are likely to become uninhabitable due to the deadly combination of extreme heat and high humidity," it said.
The report said the number of countries facing extreme exposure to climate-related hazards is projected to rise from three to 65 by 2040.
Those 65 countries host over 45 percent of all people currently displaced by conflict.
- Funding slashed -
Under President Donald Trump, the United States, traditionally the world's top donor, has slashed foreign aid.
Washington previously accounted for more than 40 percent of the UNHCR's budget, and other major donor countries have also been tightening their belts.
"Funding cuts are severely limiting our ability to protect refugees and displaced families from the effects of extreme weather," Grandi said.
"To prevent further displacement, climate financing needs to reach the communities already living on the edge," he said. "This COP must deliver real action, not empty promises."
The UNHCR report saw an "opportunity" in refugee-hosting places where ecosystems are deteriorating, saying sustainable financing for environmental restoration could create jobs and build local climate resilience.
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