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Climate change and poverty are inextricably linked

Sustainable Development

The new report "Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty" published by the World Bank makes a clear link between climate change and poverty.


Poor people and poor countries are the most exposed and vulnerable to climate-related shocks—natural disasters that destroy livelihoods; waterborne diseases that become more prevalent during heat waves, floods, or droughts; or crop failures from reduced rainfall and spikes in food prices after extreme weather events. Poor people always lost relatively more than nonpoor people.


The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices. Rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts, whereas immediate emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones. To end poverty, climate change and its effects on poor people will need to be factored into poverty-reduction policies.




(Source The World Bank)

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