The Impacts of Climate Change on the Poor in Disadvantaged Regions

Populations in developing countries that are located in less-favored agricultural areas (LFAAs)— agricultural lands constrained by difficult terrain, poor soil quality, limited rainfall, etc. or with limited access to markets—and rural low-elevation coastal zones (LECZs)—coasts that have less than 10 meters elevation—are not only at risk from the most severe and long-lasting climate change impacts, they are also susceptible to poverty-environment traps (overreliance on marginal agricultural land and resource commons, which leads to stagnant, low incomes) that further increase their vulnerability to these impacts. We estimate that approximately 586 million people with high infant mortality live in LFAAs and 85 million with high infant mortality live in rural LECZs, although both of these populations declined between 2000 and 2010. Nearly all of these people are in low-income or lower middle-income countries, with twenty countries accounting for most of the LFAA or rural LECZ populations with high infant mortality. We also examine the economic and environmental impacts of climate change on the rural poor in LFAAs and LECZs and discuss policy strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change on poverty among rural households in LFAAs and LECZs.