While past research regarding the nexus between climate change and poverty often focused on vulnerable groups in rural areas of low-income countries , new global mega-trends, such as urbanisation, underscore the need to assess both rural and urban communities and their vulnerability. In many rapidly growing cities in the Global South, access to land and to housing is a challenge, particularly for the poor and marginalised, contributing to a further increase in informal settlements that often emerge in highly hazard-exposed areas . In addition, migration from rural areas to urban centres, also due to increasing adverse impacts of climate change on rural livelihoods, can add another level of complexity . Moreover, the context in which such urbanisation processes take place is key. For example, rapidly growing medium-sized cities, for example in West Africa, often do not have sufficient financial, technical and institutional resources to adapt urban structures to climate change . Hence, vulnerability in urban contexts is an emerging issue for international, national and local adaptation programmes. Rather than focusing on mega-cities and their exposure as primary hotspots, more attention has to be given to rapidly growing small- and medium-sized cities and their adaptation needs from the perspective of vulnerability reduction and poverty.
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report