Abstract
AbstractPolicymakers are increasingly interested in how social protection is evolving in the context of climate change. This review assesses what the literature tells us about its role in facilitating adaptation in lower income countries. It also explores how far thinking on an integrated “adaptive social protection” (ASP) agenda considers transforming the socioeconomic and political contexts where vulnerability to climate change originates. The review finds that research to date focuses on how instruments such as cash or asset transfers can protect the poor from shocks and stresses, prevent households from falling into poverty as a result of climate change, and promote climate‐resilient livelihoods. However, it cautions that such interventions must go beyond helping households to cope against shocks over short time horizons; they should enable the adoption of forward‐looking strategies for long‐lasting adaptation. Much less attention in the literature is given to whether social protection measures might have transformational effects for recipients. This is despite the fact that the earliest proponents of ASP favored a rights‐based approach to social protection to address issues of inequality and marginalization which are at the root of poverty and vulnerability to climate change. Although the role of social protection should not be overstated, it holds promise as a tool for building adaptive capacity. However, the potential of ASP to be truly transformational for its recipients by tackling the structural causes of vulnerability to climate change is not yet harnessed by policymakers. This constitutes a missed opportunity for the agenda to deliver on the international community's promise to “leave no one behind.”This article is categorized under: Climate and Development > Sustainability and Human Well‐Being Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Values‐Based Approach to Vulnerability and Adaptation
Highlights
Much less attention in the literature is given to whether social protection measures might have transformational effects for recipients. This is despite the fact that the earliest proponents of adaptive social protection” (ASP) favored a rights-based approach to social protection to address issues of inequality and marginalization which are at the root of poverty and vulnerability to climate change
This review considers the following two questions: 1. What does the literature say about social protection's role in facilitating adaptation to climate change in lower income countries? 2
Analysis of abstracts allowed for immediate exclusion of 24 articles and three book chapters because they were not relevant to the research topic—i.e., they use the terms “social protection(s)” or “safety nets” in the broader sense, not in reference to the formal, public policy responses or initiatives described in Box 1; and/or they are not relevant to climate change
Summary
TENZING that 2.1 billion people in developing countries, or one-third of the population in the developing world, are covered by some form of social protection today. According to the World Bank (2018), developing and transition countries spend on average 1.5% of GDP on social safety nets, even in sub-Saharan Africa where programs are in large part donor-funded. Climate change poses new challenges for social protection. It threatens to hamper or reverse progress on poverty reduction and development, and increase pressure on already highly stretched programs as more people are pushed into poverty (Béné, Devereux, & Sabates-Wheeler, 2012; Hallegatte et al, 2016; Olsson et al, 2014). Research on whether social protection can support the poor adapt to climate change has been emerging in recent years, capturing the interest of policymakers and adaptation practitioners
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