Nearly 900 million poor people worldwide face climate risks — UNDP and OPHI report

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Nearly eight out of ten people living in multidimensional poverty — 887 million of the world’s 1.1 billion poor — are directly exposed to climate threats such as extreme heat, floods, droughts, and air pollution.

These findings come from a new report jointly prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), titled “Intersecting Hardships: Poverty and Climate Risks” and released ahead of the COP30 Climate Conference in Brazil, for the first time cross-references climate hazard data with multidimensional poverty indicators.

The study demonstrates that poverty is not only a socio-economic issue but also one deeply intertwined with global environmental and climate challenges.

According to the report, climate risks exacerbate the daily hardships of people living in poverty. Among those in acute multidimensional poverty — across health, education, and living standards — 651 million people face two or more climate risks simultaneously, while 309 million are exposed to three or four threats.

“Our research shows that to effectively tackle global poverty and build a more stable world, we must account for the climate threats affecting nearly 900 million poor people,” said UNDP Acting Administrator Haoliang Xu.

She added that at the upcoming COP30, world leaders must reinvigorate sustainable development efforts to ensure the poorest populations are not left behind.

The report pays particular attention to people who experience both poverty and multiple climate risks. The most common hazards are extreme heat, affecting 608 million poor people, and air pollution, impacting 577 million. Floods affect 465 million, and droughts — 207 million. These overlapping risks, noted OPHI Director and report co-author Sabina Alkire, create a “triple or quadruple burden” for populations often deprived of assets and minimally protected by social safety nets. Understanding these critical intersections between poverty and climate vulnerability is essential for designing integrated development strategies that put people at the center of climate action.

The burden of climate risks is unevenly distributed across regions and income groups. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are the main epicenters of overlapping hardships, home to 380 million and 344 million poor people exposed to climate threats, respectively.

In South Asia, almost every poor person faces at least one climate threat, and over 90% are exposed to two or more — a far higher rate than in any other region. By income group, lower-middle-income countries bear the heaviest burden, with about 548 million people facing climate risks, including over 470 million exposed to two or more.

The report warns that these burdens are likely to intensify. Climate projections indicate that countries with the highest levels of current multidimensional poverty are expected to experience the largest temperature increases by the end of the century. According to Pedro Conceição, Director of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, this will deepen existing inequalities and increase risks for the most vulnerable groups.

The findings underscore the urgent need for global action to mitigate the impact of climate risks on impoverished populations. This requires moving from acknowledgment to concrete measures — developing poverty reduction strategies that integrate climate risk considerations, strengthening local adaptation capacities, and expanding international cooperation and financial support.