Almost 900 million people worldwide living in acute multidimensional poverty are exposed to one or more climate shocks, according to a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The findings highlight a deepening intersection between global poverty and environmental vulnerability — revealing that those least responsible for emissions bear the heaviest burden of climate impacts.

Poverty and Climate: A Dangerous Overlap

The report, titled Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2025, found that 887 million poor people — roughly four out of every five in poverty — live in areas directly exposed to climate hazards such as extreme heat, floods, droughts, or air pollution.

• 608 million people are exposed to extreme heat

• 577 million people face air pollution

• 465 million live in flood-prone zones

• 207 million are at risk from drought

Alarmingly, about 651 million people face two or more of these hazards simultaneously, while 309 million face three or more overlapping threats. (UNDP, 2025)

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Regional Hotspots of Risk

The data paints a stark regional picture. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa remain the epicentres of global poverty and climate exposure.

• South Asia accounts for 380 million poor people exposed to at least one hazard, mostly extreme heat.

• Sub-Saharan Africa follows closely with 344 million people facing similar threats.
  Other regions, including Latin America and parts of Southeast Asia, are also witnessing growing vulnerability due to deforestation, urban heat islands, and erratic rainfall.

While income-based poverty has declined in many areas, the multidimensional nature of deprivation — incorporating health, education, housing, and sanitation — reveals that climate shocks often reverse development gains.

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Climate Hazard Exposure Among the Poor (Global MPI 2025)

Source: UNDP–OPHI Global MPI 2025

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Call for Integrated Action

The UN warns that failure to integrate poverty reduction and climate adaptation could lock millions into cycles of deprivation. “Climate change is a poverty multiplier,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. “It threatens decades of progress and widens inequalities between and within countries.”

The report calls for targeted investments in climate-resilient livelihoods, early-warning systems, and social protection schemes for vulnerable households. Empowering local communities through education, clean energy access, and sustainable agriculture can simultaneously tackle emissions and vulnerability.

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Conclusion

The growing exposure of the world’s poorest to climate shocks underscores a stark reality: environmental justice and economic justice are inseparable. As the planet warms, development must not only lift people out of poverty but also shield them from the hazards of a changing climate.

The UN’s warning serves as a reminder that resilience cannot be an afterthought — it must be built into the very framework of global development.

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