Acting on climate and poverty: if we fail on one, we fail on the other

In this policy insight, the authors explain why delayed action on climate change will be profoundly damaging for poverty reduction efforts around the world. Contrastingly, rising to the climate and poverty challenges in tandem can generate great gains for people and the environment across continents and create new paths for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Climate change amplifies the scale, frequency and intensity of these events and shocks, driving people into poverty and limiting their ability to escape.

Managing climate change and overcoming poverty are the defining challenges of this century. They are deeply interwoven: if we fail on one, we fail on the other. Hence, the paper also addresses how the international community can work together to create this new sustainable, resilient, inclusive approach to development and poverty reduction.