Social Protection and Climate Change Strategies

Apr 5, 2025

Rethinking Social Protection and Climate Change Webinar Notes

Introduction

  • Webinar Topic: Rethinking social protection and climate change in the Asia Pacific region.
  • Objective: Discuss findings of a report by Cecilia Costella and Anna McCord for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
  • Focus Areas: Socioeconomic challenges arising from climate change, potential functions of social protection in building resilience, and challenges to current social protection practices.

Acknowledgments

  • Moderator: Jacky Pal (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).
  • Indigenous Acknowledgment: Recognizing traditional custodians of the land.
  • Accessibility: Sign language interpreters and live captioning available.

Speakers and Presenters

  • Shanti Gupta: Technical advisor at the Red Cross Climate Center, presenting key points from the report.
  • Anna McCord: Co-founder of the Climate Change and Social Protection Research Initiative, presenting on challenges for the sector.
  • Discussants:
    • Peter Elder: Climate Resilience and Finance Branch, DFAT.
    • Lisa Hanigan: Senior Advisor for Social Protection, DFAT.

Key Points from Presentations

Shanti Gupta's Presentation

  • Report Overview: Focuses on the need for a policy shift regarding social protection and climate change in the Asia Pacific region.
  • Medium-Term Implications of Climate Change:
    • Climate change intensifies socioeconomic challenges and disasters.
    • Vulnerability due to reliance on agriculture and exposure to climate events.
    • Projected Impacts:
      • Increased poverty, food insecurity, health-related issues, and climate-induced migration.
  • Functions of Social Protection:
    1. Reducing vulnerability to climate change.
    2. Responding to climate shocks and disasters.
    3. Offsetting negative welfare impacts of climate transition policies.
    4. Facilitating adaptation options.
    5. Contributing to greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

Anna McCord's Presentation

  • Need for Reconceptualization: Importance of integrating climate adaptation and mitigation objectives into social protection frameworks.
  • Key Areas for Rethinking:
    1. Institutional context and mandates.
    2. Policy alignment with climate goals.
    3. Coverage and targeting mechanisms.
    4. Program design and instruments.
    5. Operational systems for provision.
    6. Financing strategies.
  • Challenges Identified:
    • Low coverage levels of social protection, misalignment between sectors, complexities of targeting.

Peter Elder's Reflections

  • Integration of Climate and Social Protection: Acknowledges the need for a unified response to climate impacts across sectors.
  • Role of Evidence: Emphasizes the importance of robust data to inform policy and programming decisions.

Lisa Hanigan's Reflections

  • Importance of Intentional Action: Social protection systems must adapt proactively to changing climate risks.
  • Cross-sectoral Collaboration: Urges engagement across various sectors for effective social protection frameworks.

Q&A Session Summary

  • Main Challenges for Integration:
    • Promoting understanding of social protection's role in climate adaptation and mitigation.
    • Aligning resources and policies to address both climate impacts and poverty.
  • Examples of Integrated Approaches: Indonesia's social registry and Bangladesh's approaches to targeting vulnerable populations.

Conclusion

  • Next Steps: Continued engagement and collaboration between climate change and social protection sectors.
  • Availability of Report: The report will be published on the DFAT social protection publications page soon.