Climate change affects poor and marginalized communities first and hardest. Particularly in cities, a lack of access to basic services, a long history of unsustainable urban development, and political exclusion render the urban poor one of the most vulnerable groups to climate induced natural hazards and disasters.

Climate change is a global phenomenon, but the impacts are distributed locally and unevenly in cities. The urban poor are the most affected by climate change and are more likely to live in areas that lack sufficient infrastructure to respond to climate risks.