Few Climate Plans Address Homelessness
Research released before COP31 finds homelessness largely absent from national climate planning, with no fixed timeline for reform.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Environmental
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Should governments include homelessness in their national climate plans?
A report by Depaul International and IIED found that few national climate plans address homelessness. Fewer than one-sixth of countries' climate adaptation plans mention homelessness, and two countries' NDCs explicitly mention it, a 1.2% share. The research is a policy analysis of existing plans, not a proposed technology, and its recommendations remain advocacy.
Why it matters
Climate change endangers people already experiencing homelessness and puts millions more at risk of losing their homes. The report was released as governments prepared to meet at COP31, pressing them to fold housing and homelessness into the plans that will govern climate adaptation and emissions cuts.
The figures come from a document analysis of national NDCs and NAPs, showing that 2 of the NDCs (1.2%) and 11 of the NAPs (13.9%) reference homelessness, and only six NAPs acknowledge the heightened climate vulnerability of people experiencing homelessness. What remains unclear is whether governments will move to add housing provisions to these plans before or after COP31.
The players
Depaul International
A international non-governmental organization focused on homelessness, whose research on climate planning gaps was released ahead of COP31.
IIED
The International Institute for Environment and Development, a London-based research organization that co-published the report on homelessness in national climate plans.
The details
The researchers examined how homelessness appears in countries' national climate action plans, specifically Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which set emissions-cut targets, and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), which set out how countries will cope with climate impacts. The gap is structural: homelessness services are largely absent from climate planning, even though rising heat, flooding and other hazards hit people without stable shelter first and hardest. The report was released as delegations prepared to meet in Antalya, Türkiye for COP31.
Timeline
November 5, 2026: Depaul International and IIED release the report ahead of UN climate talks.
COP31: UN climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, where governments are urged to act.
The Tech Race
The report sits within the Paris Agreement's national planning process, where NDCs and NAPs are the operative documents governments update to show progress. It measures these plans against a gap rather than against a competing technology or product, so its relevance is to policy design rather than a technical race.
For people experiencing homelessness, plans that omit their vulnerability can leave them without heat relief, flood shelter or emergency support during climate events. The practical effect depends on whether governments act on the report at COP31, and the extraction gives no timeline for specific housing provisions.
The takeaway
Watch whether governments at COP31 adopt housing or homelessness language in their updated NDCs or NAPs, which would show whether the report changes planning. The next concrete test is the COP31 outcome in Antalya, Türkiye.
What happens next
Governments will meet at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, where the report's call to recognize homelessness in climate plans is expected to be raised.
Further reading
For broader context on how climate policy is shaped across borders, see Environmental coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by ICN.
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Should governments include homelessness in their national climate plans?
