Nearly eight in ten people across the globe are living in multidimensional poverty—about 887 million out of 1.1 billion people. They are directly exposed to climate hazards such as extreme heat, flooding, drought, and air pollution, says a new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) report.
The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) titled Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards, released ahead of the COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil, offers the first detailed analysis combining poverty data with climate hazard exposure. The findings signal that global poverty can no longer be viewed as a standalone social issue, but rather as one deeply connected to planetary instability and environmental degradation.
The Climate-Poverty Nexus
According to the report, poverty and climate vulnerability are converging, creating new strata of risk where millions face multiple, overlapping hazards simultaneously. Of the 887 million people exposed to at least one climate hazard, 651 million endure two or more, while 309 million experience between three and four hazards at the same time. This compounded exposure magnifies vulnerability, pushing already marginalized communities deeper into deprivation and instability.
The most common climate threats facing the poor are extreme heat and air pollution, affecting 608 million and 577 million people respectively. Floods endanger 465 million poor individuals, and 207 million face the persistent threat of drought. These conditions create what the report calls a “triple or quadruple burden”—a crushing combination of environmental and socioeconomic stress amplified by insufficient access to healthcare, education, and social protection systems.
Voices from the Global Development Community
Haoliang Xu, Acting Administrator of UNDP, underscored the urgent need for integrated global action. “To address global poverty and create a more stable world for everyone, we must confront the climate risks endangering nearly 900 million poor people,” Xu said. He emphasized that the upcoming COP30 climate negotiations represent a vital opportunity for nations to unite on pro-poor, climate-resilient development strategies.
Co-author Sabina Alkire, Director of OPHI, echoed this sentiment, stating that identifying where both climate crises and poverty converge will help in developing human-centered approaches to climate adaptation. “Understanding where people are most burdened by overlapping challenges is essential to designing strategies that place humanity at the center of climate action,” she said.
Global and Regional Hotspots
The report identifies South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa as the two regions where poverty and climate stress intersect most severely. Together, they account for roughly 724 million poor people living in hazard-prone areas. South Asia has the world’s highest exposure levels, with 99.1 percent of its poor population—equating to 380 million people—subject to at least one climate hazard. An alarming 91.6 percent, or 351 million, experience two or more hazards simultaneously.
The situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is similarly dire. Around 344 million people facing multidimensional poverty in the region are regularly exposed to heat, floods, drought, or pollution. These compounded challenges strain fragile systems that already face resource scarcity, high inequality, and limited institutional resilience.
Lower-middle-income countries bear the heaviest burden globally. According to the MPI report, 548 million poor individuals in these economies are exposed to at least one hazard—representing 61.8 percent of all poor people exposed to climate risks. About 470 million of them confront two or more hazards concurrently, emphasizing the need for targeted adaptation financing in these vulnerable economies.
The Costs of Overlapping Hardships
Climate hazards exacerbate multidimensional poverty by undermining livelihoods, disrupting health systems, and reducing educational opportunities. Droughts destroy crops and water sources, floods demolish homes, and extreme heat endangers lives—particularly in low-income regions where infrastructure is weak and emergency services are scarce.
The report stresses that exposure to overlapping climate hazards is a core driver of inequality. Poor populations are typically concentrated in rural areas dependent on agriculture. When climate events devastate these communities, they set off long-term cycles of food insecurity, loss of income, displacement, and deteriorating social welfare.
This systemic vulnerability means that people facing the greatest poverty are also the least equipped to recover from climatic shocks. Such conditions deepen disparities and erode resilience. They perpetuate intergenerational poverty. This situation is an accelerating global crisis that risks reversing decades of human development gains.
A Compounding Global Risk Landscape
Pedro Conceição, Director of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, warned about the inequalities identified in the report. He stated these are projected to worsen without decisive action. “The burdens identified are not limited to the present but are expected to intensify in the future,” he said. The analysis reveals that countries suffering from high multidimensional poverty levels will experience the sharpest temperature increases. This is expected to happen by the end of this century.
The findings suggest that the gap between rich and poor nations will expand further. This will happen under climate pressure without significant global intervention. Countries least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions will face the heaviest economic losses. They will also endure severe social and environmental setbacks.
Towards Climate-Resilient Poverty Reduction
The MPI 2025 calls for an urgent shift in global development approaches to simultaneously tackle poverty and climate risks. This involves aligning national poverty alleviation programmes with climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. It also includes enhancing early-warning systems. Additionally, expanding access to clean energy, water, and sustainable livelihoods is essential.
UNDP urges countries to embed climate resilience into poverty reduction strategies. This means not only ensuring economic growth but restructuring priorities to address environmental fragility. Local adaptation capacities need to be strengthened. Planning should be inclusive. International financing must be targeted to prevent the poorest populations from bearing the brunt of climate impacts.
The report also advocates for larger-scale redistribution mechanisms through climate financing frameworks to support low- and middle-income nations. Global cooperation must move beyond promises toward concrete investments in social protection, climate-smart agriculture, and resilient infrastructure. Such initiatives would address immediate hazards while fostering long-term sustainability.
An Urgent Call Ahead of COP30
With COP30 approaching in Brazil, the MPI findings serve as a critical call. Policymakers must ground climate discussions in social justice. Nearly 900 million people are trapped at the intersection of multidimensional poverty and climate exposure. Bridging this divide requires a transformative, equity-centered global agenda that integrates environmental action with human development objectives.
As Haoliang Xu emphasized, world leaders must move beyond rhetoric to action by embedding human-centered priorities into every national pledge. “Only by addressing poverty and climate hazards together can we ensure a more stable, just, and sustainable future,” he said.
The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index is a sobering wake-up call: global poverty cannot be eradicated in an unstable climate. The growing overlap between environmental risk and human deprivation underscores the need for collective global action. Whether in drought-stricken Africa, flood-prone Asia, or polluted urban centers, the world’s poorest continue to face multiple, overlapping hardships.
To break the cycle, governments, multilateral institutions, and communities must invest in resilience. They should focus on sustainable policies that rebuild opportunity while safeguarding the planet. Poverty and climate change are not separate challenges. They are deeply intertwined issues. These issues must be confronted together if humanity is to thrive in the decades ahead.