Why Social Protection should be at the heart of addressing climate change
A Just Transition
The Paris Agreement has demanded rapid action to keep the average temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees, and make a transition to a cleaner, low-carbon global economy. But this transition must also be just and focused on the poor, and for that, global climate change initiatives may need to go beyond mitigation and adaptation, to include social protection.
This is because as efforts to fight climate change to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will create new “green” sectors of the economy, individuals whose livelihoods are tied to carbon-based will require assistance as countries phase out certain industries. Social protection measures must be in place to offset losses in income or assets that could threaten livelihoods and wider economic activity and to especially protect those who lose their jobs and livelihood opportunities, in order to ensure a just transition toward greener economies and societies.
The Rich and the Poor
Rich countries, and those from more affluent and educated backgrounds have most often been the champions of the environment — and perhaps they are able to advocate for the environment as they already have fairly good social protection measures to deal with the issue of poverty. On the other hand, poor countries and poor people have been focused on supporting economic growth or dealing with more basic livelihood concerns as they lack social protection measures to safeguard them from poverty. While climate action efforts support poverty eradication and vice versa, but unfortunately, there is a strong disconnect in narratives of the climate agenda with the poverty agenda (See the competing images on this post!). This is especially the case in the private sector which funds a large part of the work on climate change, and in the research sector, that is innovating on the green economy, and yet their narrative on climate change and sustainability totally excludes the poor (and may not even refer to poverty or social protection at all). In order to allow the poor to be able to make a transition to a greener economy, it must resonate with their priorities and that is where social protection measures should come in.
Reinforcing Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
Addressing climate risks through mitigation would indeed provide some form of social protection as those whose livelihoods depend heavily on natural resources and are thus disproportionately affected by climate risks. On the other hand, social protection could reinforce adaptation efforts, and aim to protect populations at greater risk of climate-related hardship. Well-designed social protection systems will help to deliver relief in the wake of extreme weather events, including storms, droughts and floods, which are on the rise globally. It is evident that climate mitigation and adaptation measures will be effective by many-fold if social protection measures are in place to ensure that there is a smoother and more agreeable transition to a low-carbon economy.
The Pandemic Aftermath
The COVID-19 pandemic was a shock to our current global economic system, disrupting supply chains and also putting the world further behind on key poverty targets than just a year ago. However, countries that fared well had good disaster risk management systems in place, as well as accompanying social protection measures to feel the people and economy afloat. The pandemic has also exposed gaps in social protection, as well as helped us realize that the current economy and supply chains are not be as resilient or adaptive as we may want it to be. Social protection will be critical for resilience to future shocks, not just pandemics but also climate change, and yet, it is still missing from the portfolio of many climate funding agencies.
Climate funding currently available under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol is less than $10 billion per year, most of it through Clean Development Mechanism. Additional funding is provided by the World Bank and by bilateral aid programs, but the annual total of all existing multilateral and bilateral climate funding is less than $15 billion. But very little of this funding is dedicated to social protection measures especially as traditional resource-based economies will be phased out. It is high time that climate agencies start allocating part of their portfolio to support social protection, and also provide support to governments to strategically start linking social protection and national climate change responses. Otherwise, the fight against climate change will be still an activity exclusive to the rich, as the poor will continue to struggle in the absence of social protection measures.
