Climate Change Impacts on Rural Poverty in Low-Elevation Coastal Zones

This paper identifies the low-elevation coastal zone populations and developing regions most vulnerable to sea-level rise and other coastal hazards, such as storm surges, coastal erosion, and salt-water intrusion. The focus is on the rural poor in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Barbier, Edward B.
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:	FLOODING INFANT MORTALITY RATES FISH WETLAND RESTORATION INFANT MORTALITY ECONOMIC GROWTH CULTURAL VALUES URBANIZATION ADVERSE IMPACTS COASTAL HABITATS PARKS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES STORMS LIVE BIRTHS HYDROLOGY SEAGRASSES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES HABITATS MONITORING MARINE RESOURCES SHORELINES POLICY DISCUSSIONS ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES COASTAL ZONE MALNOURISHED CHILDREN LEVELS OF INFANT MANGROVES BAY ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY QUALITY RURAL POPULATION VULNERABILITY SHORE SAFETY NETS INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE RESOURCE USE HABITAT DEGRADATION HUMAN ACTIVITIES SEDIMENT RURAL POPULATIONS COASTAL ZONES MARINE SCIENCE RURAL‐POPULATION COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE STUDY AREA SEA‐LEVEL NATURAL DISASTER ECONOMIC BENEFITS POPULATION GROWTH LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES FLOODS HABITAT QUALITY SEA‐ LEVEL COASTAL EROSION MIGRATION BIODIVERSITY NATURAL DISASTERS VULNERABLE POPULATIONS WAVES HOUSEHOLD INCOME POLLUTION SEAGRASS BEDS DISASTERS MORTALITY RATE INDICATORS VICIOUS CYCLE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS NATURAL RESOURCES GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PRECIPITATION URBAN DWELLERS MORTALITY COASTAL AREAS LAND USE PROGRESS POPULATION TRENDS INFANT ECOSYSTEM SALTWATER INTRUSION NATIONAL PARKS MARSH RURAL COMMUNITIES VEGETATION STUDIES ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION POLICIES CLIMATE CHANGE BEACHES FRESHWATER WETLAND VEGETATION DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATIONS POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER COASTAL STORMS COASTAL WETLANDS CLIMATE FORESTS BARRIER ISLANDS RURAL POVERTY URBAN AREAS LAND AREA MARSHES SEA‐LEVEL RISE POLLUTANTS AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL LAND FOREST LAND‐AREA PONDS NUTRITION DIKES POPULATIONS ESTUARINE SALT MARSHES STRATIFICATION FOOD GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE BULLETIN ISLANDS POLICY MARINE SYSTEMS FISH POPULATIONS FISHERIES DATA SETS EROSION BOTANY SEA LEVEL LAND ECOSYSTEMS RESOLUTION MANGROVE WETLANDS SALINITY ANALYSIS LOCAL COMMUNITIES COAST GROUND WATER ESTUARIES RURAL AREAS CONSERVATION WETLAND BROOKS COASTAL REGION LAM ECOLOGY SALT MARSH NUMBER OF DEATHS WETLANDS ECOLOGY POLICY IMPLICATIONS INCIDENCE OF POVERTY POPULATION SEA‐ LEVEL RISE RESTORATION POLICY RESEARCH POPULATION DATA URBAN POPULATIONS RURAL DEVELOPMENT BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION INFANT MORTALITY RATE WETLANDS DEVELOPMENT POLICY RIVER
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/11/25250348/climate-change-impacts-rural-poverty-low-elevation-coastal-zones http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23443

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Summary:	This paper identifies the low-elevation coastal zone populations and developing regions most vulnerable to sea-level rise and other coastal hazards, such as storm surges, coastal erosion, and salt-water intrusion. The focus is on the rural poor in the low-elevation coastal zone, as their economic livelihoods are especially endangered directly by coastal hazards and indirectly through the impacts of climate change on key coastal and near-shore ecosystems. Using geo-spatially referenced malnutrition and infant mortality data for 2000 as a proxy for poverty, this study finds that just 15 developing countries contain over 90 percent of the world’s low-elevation coastal zone rural poor. Low-income countries as a group have the highest incidence of poverty, which declines somewhat for lower-middle-income countries, and then is much lower for upper-middle-income economies. South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa account for most of the world’s low-elevation coastal zone rural poor, and have a high incidence of poverty among their rural low-elevation coastal zone populations. Although fostering growth, especially in coastal areas, may reduce rural poverty in the low-elevation coastal zone, additional policy actions will be required to protect vulnerable communities from disasters, to conserve and restore key coastal and near-shore ecosystems, and to promote key infrastructure investments and coastal community response capability.

Climate Change Impacts on Rural Poverty in Low-Elevation Coastal Zones

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