In theory, we have comprehensive normative frameworks for universal social protection, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ICESCR and the ILO fundamental labour standards. In reality, four billion people are excluded from social protection. The three planetary crises – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – exacerbate risks. The ‘social’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including access to decent work and social protection, are desperately off track. Protracted and new violent conflicts destroy even the most basic forms of social protection. Women, children, the elderly, communities which are socially, politically, and/or culturally excluded, workers in the informal economy and people in climate-vulnerable countries are the worst off. This dystopian situation is attributable to hyper-globalization, which has dismantled governments’ regulatory responsibilities.