Study: 49% of Cyprus households could be at risk of poverty — Cyprus Mail

By the end of the century, nearly half of households in Cyprus could be at risk of poverty due to intensifying heat and droughts, according to a study published in the journal Global Environmental Change. This was reported by Cyprus Mail.

Researchers estimate that the share of households at risk of poverty could rise from the current 14.9% to 49% if global temperatures increase by 2.7°C compared with pre-industrial levels and Cyprus does not implement substantial climate change adaptation measures. Even if warming is limited to 2°C, this figure could reach about 25%.

Income losses due to heat and drought

Over the past two decades, heatwaves and droughts have reduced the incomes of Cyprus’s population by an estimated 5%. For the poorest households, losses amounted to 9%. The authors of the study note that these figures already exceed the European average.

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The study says that the combination of extreme heat and prolonged drought has a greater negative impact than these phenomena separately. Climate losses in Cyprus could reach 54% of projected future income levels — approximately twice the European average. This could offset a significant part of the expected income growth.

Greatest risk for poor families

Lead author of the study Jessie Schleipen, a doctoral student at Humboldt University of Berlin, explained that the poorest families are the most vulnerable because they have more difficult access to basic services and financial resources for recovery after extreme weather events. Repeated income losses, she said, could turn short-term consequences into a long-term poverty trap.

The researchers called for vulnerable households to be provided with financial and technical support, as well as for investment in energy-efficient buildings and infrastructure capable of withstanding increasingly extreme weather conditions.