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A new World Bank Group report released on Sunday before the international climate conference in Paris, has revealed that immediate push on climate-smart development could keep more than 100 million people out of poverty.

According to the report, climate change is already preventing people from escaping poverty, and without rapid, inclusive and climate-smart development, together with emissions-reductions efforts that protect the poor, there could be more than 100 million additional people in poverty by 2030.

The report, dubbed: “Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty,” was made available to the Ghana News Agency by David Theis, the Manager, World Bank Online Media Briefing Centre.

It finds that poor people are already at high risk from climate-related shocks, including crop failures from reduced rainfall, spikes in food prices after extreme weather events, and increased incidence of diseases after heat waves and floods.

It said such shocks could wipe out hard-won gains, leading to irreversible losses, driving people back into poverty, particularly in Africa and South Asia.

"This report sends a clear message that ending poverty will not be possible unless we take strong action to reduce the threat of climate change on poor people and dramatically reduce harmful emissions," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

"Climate change hits the poorest the hardest, and our challenge now is to protect tens of millions of people from falling into extreme poverty because of a changing climate."

The report finds that the poorest people are more exposed than the average population to climate-related shocks such as floods, droughts, and heat waves, and they lose much more of their wealth when they are hit.

It said in the 52 countries where data was available, 85 per cent of the population live in countries where poor people are more exposed to drought than the average.

According to the report, poor people are more exposed to higher temperatures and live in countries where food production is expected to decrease because of climate change.

The report, released a month before negotiators gather in Paris for international climate talks, shows how ending poverty and fighting climate change can be more effectively achieved if addressed together.