The United Nations has raised concern that nearly 900 million people — representing about 80 percent of the world’s poorest — are directly exposed to extreme climate hazards worsened by global warming.
According to a new joint report by the UN Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, the poorest populations bear a “double and deeply unequal burden,” facing both poverty and climate shocks such as floods, heat waves, droughts, and air pollution.
Acting Administrator of UNDP, Haoliang Xu, said the situation calls for urgent global action ahead of the upcoming COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil this November.
“No one is immune to the increasingly frequent and stronger effects of climate change, but it’s the poorest among us who are facing the harshest impact,” Xu said.
“COP30 is the moment for world leaders to look at climate action as action against poverty.”
The report revealed that about 1.1 billion people — nearly 18 percent of the 6.3 billion in 109 countries surveyed — live in “acute multidimensional poverty”, characterized by poor access to housing, healthcare, education, electricity, and sanitation.
A case highlighted in the report is that of Ricardo, a member of Bolivia’s Guarani Indigenous community, who lives with 18 relatives in a single house without adequate facilities. None of his children attend school, reflecting what the report describes as “the multidimensional realities of poverty.”
Two regions — Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia — were identified as the most affected by the overlap of poverty and environmental risks.
The study also showed that about 887 million people, or nearly 79 percent of the poor population, face at least one major climate hazard, with 608 million exposed to extreme heat, 577 million to pollution, 465 million to floods, and 207 million to drought.
“When hazards overlap or strike repeatedly, they compound existing deprivations,” the report noted, warning that recurring climate disasters could erase years of development progress.
In South Asia, which has recorded some progress in reducing poverty, 99 percent of poor households are still vulnerable to at least one form of climate hazard.
The report urged global leaders to “move from recognition to rapid action” to protect vulnerable populations and promote sustainable solutions.
“Responding to overlapping risks requires prioritising both people and the planet,” the report concluded.
