Climate and Equity

Reducing the impact of climate change on poor and vulnerable householdsis essential to hastening poverty reduction. In thinking about policies thatdo this, it is useful to apply the same hazard, exposure and vulnerabilityframework that is often used to understand the physical impacts of climatechange and add the non-climate benefits and costs to households that thesepolicies can also bring. Policies that reduce hazards and vulnerability whilstbringing non-climate benefits-triple win policies—are not very common, butwhere possible they should be prioritized. Policies that reduce vulnerabilityand bring non-climate benefits are more common. However, some development policies that bring non-climate benefits, particularly in higher-incomeand higher-growth countries, may increase emissions by enough to worsenfuture hazards, so their emissions impact needs to be managed with compensating actions. Policies that reduce the hazards faced by poor households are needed, and the non-climate cost of these policies on poor peopleshould be minimized or compensated where it cannot be avoided