UN report: 80% of the world’s poor live in areas exposed to climate risks

The report provides new evidence that the climate crisis is reshaping global poverty, and its findings, by combining climate risk data with multidimensional poverty for the first time, reveal a world in which poverty is not just a stand-alone social and economic issue, but an issue closely linked to global pressures and instability.

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index Report 2025, titled “Intersecting Difficulties: Poverty and Climate Risk”issued by the United Nations Development Program and the Oxford Initiative on Poverty and Human Development at the University of Oxford, explained that exposure to climate risks is likely to exacerbate the daily challenges faced by people living in poverty, enhancing and deepening their plight.

It found that among those assessed as living in severe multidimensional poverty – encompassing health, education and living standards – 651 million people experience two or more climate risks, while 309 million people face three or four risks simultaneously.

High temperature and air pollution

Haoliang Xu, acting administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, said the new report shows that “To address global poverty and create a more stable world for all, we must confront the climate risks that threaten nearly 900 million poor people.”.

He said that when world leaders gather in Brazil for the 30th United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) next month, their national climate pledges should revive the stagnation in development progress that threatens to leave the world’s poorest people behind.

The report revealed that high temperatures and air pollution are the most common risks affecting the poor globally, with 608 million people affected by high temperature and 577 million people affected by air pollution.

Flood-prone areas are home to 465 million poor people, while 207 million live in areas affected by drought.

Unequal burden

The report stated that the burden of exposure to these risks is unevenly distributed between regions and income groups.

He said that South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are considered among the global hot spots for these accumulated hardships, as they contain the largest number of poor people living in areas affected by climate risks (380 million and 344 million, respectively).

For income groups, lower-middle-income countries bear the greatest burden of poor people’s exposure to climate risks, both in absolute numbers and in proportion.

The report estimates that about 548 million poor people in lower-middle-income countries are exposed to at least one climate risk, representing 61.8% of the world’s poor exposed to any climate risk.

The report stressed that confronting these intersecting risks requires moving from recognition to action, while emphasizing the need for poverty reduction strategies capable of adapting to climate change.