Changing Climate, Changing Migration: First Displacement, then Disasters: How Refugees Contend with Climate Change

Refugees are often some of the people most vulnerable to climate change. After fleeing armed conflict or persecution, many refugees end up in camps located in rural areas, with few resources and little support. That can leave them vulnerable to floods, storms, extreme heat, or other impacts of climate change. This episode focuses on these impacts, with insights from Ayoo Irene Hellen, a South Sudanese refugee in Uganda and climate advocate. She discusses her own experiences, those of her community, and the value of including refugee voices in planning. Want to dive deeper? Listen to an earlier episode speaking with the UN refugee agency’s special advisor on climate action: All of MPI’s work on climate migration is here: 00:00 Intro 02:45 Climate impacts on refugee settlements in Uganda 09:32 Legal and socioeconomic barriers to climate adaptation 16:52 Exclusion of refugees from climate policy processes 19:21 Refugee-led community resilience strategies 23:11 Climate challenges upon return: The case of South Sudan 27:24 Closing thoughts: co-creation and refugee inclusion

You can listen to Changing Climate, Changing Migration: First Displacement, then Disasters: How Refugees Contend with Climate Change online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Changing Climate, Changing Migration: First Displacement, then Disasters: How Refugees Contend with Climate Change is an episode from Migration Policy Institute Podcasts by Migration Policy Institute.

This episode is 30:16 long.

This episode was published on Apr 9, 2026.

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