The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, published by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards”, released ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, presents new evidence that the climate crisis is reshaping global poverty.
Key Insights:
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.
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 lowermiddle-income countries confront two or more, concurrent climate hazards simultaneously.
