Climate change is likely to create at least a billion refugees by 2050 according to a recent report.

The report, Human tide: The real migration crisis, by the European aid agency Christian Aid, said that in future, many people, especially the poor, would be forced to migrate due to water shortage and crop failure, which would ultimately lead to fights over local resources. "We believe that forced migration is now the most urgent threat facing poor people in the developing world,' said John Davison, lead author of the report.

Industrialised countries which have mainly contributed to greenhouse gas emissions should bear the cost of helping the worst hit by it, said the report.