UNDP-Oxford Report: Climate Hazards Deepen Poverty Crisis

On 17th October 2025, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) released the 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report titled “Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards”.

Key Points

Scale of the Problem: Nearly 887 million out of 1.1 billion people living in multidimensional poverty are directly exposed to climate hazards such as extreme heat, floods, droughts, and air pollution.
Multiple Hazards: 651 million poor people face two or more concurrent hazards, while 309 million endure three or four simultaneously, compounding poverty and vulnerability.
Major Hazards: High heat affects 608 million poor people, air pollution impacts 577 million, flooding threatens 465 million, and drought endangers 207 million.
Regional Hotspots: South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are the most affected regions, with 380 million and 344 million poor people respectively facing climate hazards.
High Exposure in South Asia: 99.1% of South Asia’s poor population is exposed to at least one climate shock, and 91.6% face two or more.
Economic Impact: Lower-middle-income countries bear the greatest burden, with 548 million poor people exposed to at least one hazard.
Future Projections: Countries with higher current poverty levels are expected to experience the greatest temperature increases by century’s end.