Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty

Climate change threatens the objective of sustainably eradicating poverty. Poor people
and poor countries are exposed and vulnerable to all types of climate-related shocks— natural disasters that destroy assets and
livelihoods; waterborne diseases and pests that become more prevalent during heat waves, floods, or droughts; crop failure from
reduced rainfall; and spikes in food prices that follow extreme weather events. Climate related shocks also affect those who are not
poor but remain vulnerable and can drag them into poverty—for example, when a flood destroys a microenterprise, a drought
decimates a herd, or contaminated water makes a child sick. Such events can erase decades of hard work and asset accumulation and leave people with irreversible health consequences. Changes in climate conditions caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere can worsen these shocks and slow down poverty reduction. Ending poverty will not be possible if
climate change and its effects on poor people are not accounted for and managed in development and poverty-reduction policies. But neither can the climate be stabilized without acknowledging that ending poverty is an utmost priority. The goal of maintaining
climate change below a 2°C increase in global temperature above preindustrial levels—the very goal the international community has committed to—will require deep structural changes in the world economy