The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, titled "Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards," provides new insights into how climate change is impacting global poverty. The report overlays climate hazard data with multidimensional poverty data for the first time, highlighting the connection between environmental challenges and socio-economic hardship.
According to the findings, 80% of the world's poor are exposed to at least one climate hazard. Of the 887 million poor people exposed, 651 million face two or more hazards, and 309 million experience three or four hazards at the same time. The most common hazards affecting poor populations are high heat, air pollution, floods, and droughts.
Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, stated: “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.”
The report identifies South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa as regions with the highest numbers of poor people exposed to climate hazards, with 380 million and 344 million affected respectively. In South Asia, nearly all poor people (99.1%) are exposed to at least one climate shock, and over 91% face two or more. Lower-middle-income countries also carry a significant share of this burden, with about 548 million poor people exposed to at least one hazard.
Haoliang Xu, UNDP Acting Administrator, commented: “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 report also projects that countries with higher current levels of multidimensional poverty are likely to see the largest increases in temperatures by the end of this century. Pedro Conceição, Director of the Human Development Report Office at UNDP, said: “The burdens identified are not limited to the present but are expected to intensify in the future.”
The findings underscore the need for urgent global action to reduce the unequal impact of climate hazards on those living in poverty. The report calls for climate-resilient poverty reduction strategies, stronger local adaptation capacities, and increased international cooperation and finance.