Social Protection and Climate Change

Climate change has already resulted in climate-related extreme events of greater frequency and/or intensity. This, along with long-term changes in average conditions (whether in temperature or rainfall), is likely to continue to have a major impact on livelihoods. Developing countries will be especially affected by such events – and more specifically, the poor people in developing countries – because of their geographical exposure and their greater reliance on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture. Social protection offers a wide range of instruments (e.g. cash transfers, insurance products, pension schemes and employment guarantee schemes) that can be used to support households that are particularly vulnerable to both the ongoing and acute impacts of climate changes. Although the evidence base showing how these measures can help those affected prevent and cope with climate challenges is still limited, this paper aims to provide a condensed review of the current knowledge and evidence about the role of social protection in reducing the impact of climate change on the poorest populations and provides a series of recommendations for both social protection and climate change practitioners and for strengthening the evidence base.