Who Does Climate Change Really Affect?

What Causes the Issue? 

Although it is widely known that climate change is largely caused by greenhouse gas emissions, there is often a blind eye turned to the differences between the emissions of the affluent and the disadvantaged. High income groups are proven to release the most emissions, with the wealthiest 10% of the population emitting 6.5 times as much as the average person, usually as a result of private consumption. Their emissions total to two-thirds of global emissions. Meanwhile, the effects of climate change disproportionately affect those in lower income brackets. Although some effects of climate change, such as natural disasters, are income-independent, there are many more that impose the largest burden on less wealthy countries and individuals. So why exactly do the low income take the hit?

How Are Low Income Communities Affected?

One reason why lower-income people generally end up affected more severely by climate impacts is that rural communities often rely more on natural resources than urban ones. 70% of those who fall under the poverty line rely on natural resources for food, shelter, and more. These natural resources have been severely affected by climate change, leading to scarcity. For example, many water supplies have begun to evaporate as temperatures increase. Clean fresh water sources are instrumental to health as well as agricultural production.

People living in coastal areas have also been disproportionately impacted by changing patterns in climate. Sea level rise, a major impact of glacier melt, has been affecting coastal areas, forcing many climate refugees to relocate. The number of people at risk in coastal regions has now reached 260 million, with 90% of them being from developing nations and small island nations. For example, Bangladesh, a developing nation, is ranked ninth most vulnerable to climate change due to its proximity to glaciers in the Himalayan mountains. As these glaciers melt, the meltwater rushes into Bangladesh’s deltas, causing flooding and local sea level rise. Within the next 25 years, this glacier melt could lead to one-seventh of Bangladesh’s land being lost, resulting in over a 30% decline in agricultural production. In addition, extreme weather events in the Indian Ocean have been becoming more common, causing flooding and increased high-wind storms, causing thousands of deaths in Bangladesh and other countries in the region. This combination has led to both internal migration, where people in Bangladesh move away from coastal cities deeper into the interior of the country, and emigration to neighboring countries.

How Can You Help?

While the best long-term solution is to stop climate change as a whole, there are still things you can do to help those most affected by it. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) works to provide news about refugees, including climate refugees, offer emergency protection to refugees, and provide food, water, and sanitation to those fleeing a country. Their website includes a donation link, which can help fund the cause. There are also numerous similar loss and damage funds, donating to which is a great way to help developing nations build resilience to climate impacts. 

References 

Azour, J., & Selassie, A. A. (2023, August 30). Africa’s Fragile States Are Greatest Climate Change Casualties. IMF. https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2023/08/30/africas-fragile-states-are-greatest-climate-change-casualties

Duque, M. C. (2024, September 3). Climate Change in Bangladesh Shapes Internal Migration and Movement to India. Migrationpolicy.org. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/bangladesh-india-climate-migration

Mishra, S. (2023, October 9). Why Do Low-Income Communities Bear the Brunt of Climate Change? Earth.org. https://earth.org/climate-changes-unequal-burden-why-do-low-income-communities-bear-the-brunt/

Schöngart, S., Nicholls, Z., Hoffmann, R., Pelz, S., & Schleussner, C.-F. (2025). High-income groups disproportionately contribute to climate extremes worldwide. Nature Climate Change, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02325-x

UNHCR. (2023). What We Do. UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do