External publications

Climate change

Malerba, Daniele
External Publications (2021)

in: Esther Schüring / Markus Loewe (Hrsg.), Handbook on Social Protection Systems, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 688–704

ISBN: 978-1-83910-911-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839109119.00085
Open access

Climate change is the most urgent challenge of our time. It is also strictly linked to the core objectives of social protection. On one side, if not properly addressed, the effects of climate change may push millions in poverty. On the other hand, policies to mitigate climate change may also exacerbate current vulnerabilities. The chapter explores the critical role that social protection can play in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. By broadly summarizing different research streams, it outlines: i) the channels through which the impacts of climate change, as well as the policies to mitigate it, may increase poverty and vulnerability; ii) the ways in which different social protection instruments and functions address climate change; iii) the steps to further mainstream climate change in social protection, as well as the challenges to be faced. The main message is that urgent action is needed to avoid that climate change undermines past poverty reduction achievements and further complicates social protection objectives.