The human cost of climate change is stark, with increased poverty and displacement and severe risks to health and livelihoods all predicted. Climate change reproduces existing inequalities, with vulnerability to its effects driven by poverty, inequality and social status (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2022). These factors increase the vulnerability of the poor and subject those in developing countries to greater socio-economic and environmental risks.
Social protection (SP) and climate adaptation are inextricably linked (International Labour Organization (ILO), 2022; Sengupta and Sivanu, 2024: 7), with SP systems able to support adaptation by reducing the impact of climate change via (for example) cash transfer programmes, education and access to health services (Sengupta and Sivanu, 2024). A key component of this debate is funding fragmentation arising from the proliferation of climate funds and from multiple policy objectives that climate and social policies seek to address. This article explores the potential for synergies between adaptation and SP financing, by exploring current financing options and potential new approaches to mobilising resources for SP.