(How) does social protection promote climate change mitigation and adaptation? Empirical evidence and way forward

Veranstaltungsart
International Workshop

Ort / Datum
Bonn, 26.11.2025 bis 28.11.2025

German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)

Social protection is crucial for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In times of rising inequalities and poverty rates, social protection must continue addressing life cycle risks to prevent individuals from falling further into poverty while also aiding those moving out of economic deprivation. Social protection systems need to be expanded and strengthened. Today, 3.8 billion people are still not reached by any social protection programme, with a large financing and operational gap. Climate change represents an additional risk for social protection systems.  It has been estimated that more than 100 million people can fall into poverty due to climate change impacts if significant climate change adaptation is not implemented. Furthermore, the implementation of climate change mitigation policies can also create losers through price increases and job losses. In this context, social protection has become an important factor in climate policy, as it can reduce vulnerability to climate change, respond to climate shocks, and facilitate climate change mitigation and adaptation. Nevertheless, the integration of climate change considerations in social protection programs is still limited. Importantly, the empirical evidence for the impact and effectiveness of climate-relevant social protection interventions remains unbalanced across geographies and disciplines.

Call for Papers

The workshop in November aims to address these questions by providing a forum for debate about advances in social protection and climate change research. Its goal is to generate policy-relevant knowledge on how social protection systems can be strengthened in the context of climate change. We welcome papers that present new empirical evidence on the effectiveness of social protection in promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation. The papers can focus on specific climate-relevant areas (such as employment, migration) and sectors (such as health, energy, or water). We encourage submissions of papers focusing on low- and middle-income countries. A special interest will be in the following themes:

• Design of climate-relevant social protection programmes: This theme investigates the design features of social protection programmes with climate objectives from the perspective of their effectiveness. Examples of specific research questions falling into this theme are: What design and implementation features can enhance the climate-responsiveness of social protection programmes, considering future climate scenarios? How can the targeting of social protection programmes be adjusted to achieve both poverty reduction and climate goals? What innovative social protection programmes or instruments could deliver climate change mitigation and/or adaptation objectives?
• Impact of climate-responsive social protection interventions: This theme focuses on impact assessment of social protection interventions with climate objectives. Possible research questions could include: What role have social protection interventions played in building adaptive capacity and resilience, and ensuring a just transition for climate change mitigation? What are the co-benefits and potential maladaptive outcomes associated with climate-relevant social protection interventions? How can the impact of climate-relevant social protection interventions be effectively measured?
• Governance and finance frameworks: This theme investigates the policy and institutional contexts that could facilitate the effective planning, implementation, and financing of climate-relevant social protection interventions from a multi-level governance perspective. Examples of research questions falling into this theme include: What roles do different actors play in linking social protection with climate action? How to design coordination mechanisms that facilitate the effective integration of social protection and climate objectives? What is the role of domestic and international climate finance mechanisms for supporting social protection?

To apply, please send your scholarly written abstract (500-600 words) to: socioeconomic@idos-research.de by 30 April 2025. Abstracts should provide description of: (i) the research objective(s), question(s), and original contribution(s); (ii) data and methods; and (iii) the expected results and policy implications.

Important deadlines

Deadline for application: 30 April 2025

Communication of (preliminary) decision by: 15 June 2025

Submission of draft paper by: 26 August 2025

Final decision after: 1 September 2025

We consider publishing a limited set of papers in a special issue.

Participants are fully responsible for organising their travel and accommodation, but IDOS will provide logistical and information support in this regard. Funds are available to cover travel and accommodation expenses for a limited number of participants from institutions based in non-OECD countries. Please let us know if you need such support when you send your abstract.

Hinweis

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