A new report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty and Human Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford has demonstrated that nearly 8 in 10 people living in multidimensional poverty - 887 million out of 1.1 billion globally - are also directly exposed to climate hazards such as extreme heat, flooding, drought, or air pollution.
The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), ' Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards ', presents critical new evidence of how the climate crisis is reshaping global poverty.
This report shows where the climate crisis and poverty are notably converging. Understanding where the planet is under greatest strain and where people face additional burdens created by climate challenges is essential to creating mutually reinforcing development strategies that put humanity at the centre of climate action.
Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
By overlaying climate hazard data with multidimensional poverty data for the first time, the findings reveal a world where poverty is not just a standalone socio-economic issue but one that is deeply interlinked with planetary pressures and instability.
Exposure to climate hazards likely exacerbates the daily challenges faced by people living in poverty, reinforcing and deepening their disadvantages. The report finds that among those assessed to be living in acute multidimensional poverty - spanning health, education, and living standards - an overwhelming 651 million endure two or more climate hazards, while 309 million face three or four hazards simultaneously.
Haoliang Xu, UNDP Acting Administrator, said: 'Our new research shows that to address global poverty and create a more stable world for everyone, we must confront the climate risks endangering nearly 900 million poor people. When world leaders meet in Brazil for the Climate Conference, COP30, next month, their national climate pledges must revitalize the stagnating development progress that threatens to leave the world's poorest people behind.'
The Burden of Concurrent Poverty and Climate Hazards
The findings emphasize that poor people globally are often confronting multiple, concurrent environmental challenges rather than a single one in isolation.
- Of the 887 million poor people exposed to at least one climate hazard, 651 million face two or more concurrent hazards.
- Alarmingly, 309 million poor people live in regions exposed to three or four overlapping climate hazards while experiencing acute multidimensional poverty. These individuals face a "triple or quadruple burden," often possessing limited assets and minimal access to social protection systems, amplifying the negative effects of the shocks.
- Individually, the most widespread hazards affecting poor people globally are high heat (608 million) and air pollution (577 million). Flood-prone regions are home to 465 million poor people, while 207 million live in areas affected by drought.
Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
Professor Sabina Alkire. Credit: John Cairns
Geographical and Economic Hotspots
The burden of exposure is distributed unevenly across regions and income groups.
- South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are identified as global hotspots for these compounded hardships, accounting for the largest numbers of poor people living in regions affected by climate hazards (380 million and 344 million respectively).
- In South Asia, the exposure is nearly universal; fully 99.1 percent of poor people in the region are exposed to one or more climate shocks (380 million people), with 91.6 percent (351 million) facing two or more, much higher than any other world region. Despite making momentous and historic strides in poverty reduction, South Asia must also accelerate climate action.
- Across income groups, lower-middle-income countries bear the greatest burden of exposure of poor people to climate hazards, both in terms of absolute number and high proportion. About 548 million poor people in lower-middle-income countries are estimated to be exposed to at least one climate hazard, representing 61.8% of global poor people who are exposed to any climate hazard. Critically, over 470 million poor people in lower-middle-income countries confront two or more, concurrent climate hazards simultaneously.
Projected Future Inequity
Pedro Conceição, Director of the Human Development Report Office, UNDP, said: 'The burdens identified are not limited to the present but are expected to intensify in the future'.
Analysis of temperature projection data reveals that countries with higher current levels of multidimensional poverty are predicted to experience the greatest increases in temperatures by the end of this century.
These findings highlight the urgent need for global action to address the unequal burden of climate-related hazards on people living in multidimensional poverty. Confronting these overlapping risks requires moving from recognition to action, emphasizing the need for climate-resilient poverty reduction strategies, strengthened local capacities for adaptation, and scaled international redistribution and cooperative finance mechanisms.
