Social policy research and climate change

Abstract

Climate change is highly relevant to social policy and the welfare state as it increasingly affects people's living conditions, often in a downward direction. It is therefore an important and growing source of social risks. Despite the many points of intersection between climate change and social policy, research on the relationship between these two is relatively young. Research has focused on social and welfare implications of the global climate crisis, and more recently, on the actual and potential roles of social policy in contributing to the necessary transformation to a net-zero or low emissions world. This chapter outlines the main positions in this academic debate and discusses new areas of research about the intersection of climate change and social policy. Future scholarship needs to pay more attention to the idea of de-growth and how to financially sustain the welfare state during the environmental transition to a net-zero carbon emissions society.