Inequality and poverty
Inequality is the multiplier on every other crisis. The same heat, pollution and water stress produce radically different outcomes depending on who can buy cooling, filtration, clean water and relocation. Stratification — not the hazard alone — decides who survives well.
Inequality explorer
Poverty is multidimensional
Income is only one axis. The Multidimensional Poverty Index counts overlapping deprivations — and the most common is the lack of clean cooking fuel, which ties poverty directly back to indoor air pollution.
| Deprivation | Share of poor affected |
|---|---|
| Cooking fuel | 84% |
| Sanitation | 71% |
| Housing | 68% |
| Drinking water | 44% |
| Electricity | 40% |
| Nutrition | 53% |
| School attendance | 28% |
Why it couples
Inequality is the multiplier on every other crisis in the index. The same heat, pollution and water stress produce radically different outcomes depending on who can buy cooling, filtration, clean water and relocation. The bottom 50% emit ~12% of carbon but absorb the majority of the exposure — stratification, not the hazard alone, decides who survives well.
This is why the index treats stratified allocation as a Tier I problem in its own right: who gets the buffer is as decisive as how large the hazard grows. See the mitigation framework for the allocation lever.