Overlapping crises

A new report suggests global warming is exacerbating poverty

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Climate change is not just a challenge for humanity in general, it has a key role to play in driving global poverty and inequality. This was a finding of the 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index report titled "Overlapping Hardships and Climate Hazards". The report, which overlaid climate-hazard data with multidimensionalpoverty data spanning health, education, and living standards - for the first time, established that eight out of 10 people living in multidimensional poverty, or about 887 million people, are directly exposed to climate hazards such as extreme heat, floods, drought, or air pollution. Presented ahead of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP30), to be held in Brazil between November 10 and 21, the report unequivocally says that the "climate crisis is reshaping global poverty". The report, thus, adds considerable heft to developing countries' demand that the developed world, with its deep historical responsibility for the toxic climate-altering emission in the atmosphere, significantly raise its financial contributions towards th