This rapid literature review presents and synthesises the conceptual underpinnings and evidence on the relationship between social protection, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Social protection instruments have been shown to be effective mechanisms for coping with shocks. The recent growth of social protection systems has shown that having systems in place before a shock hits can produce an effective response. Social protection is thus well-aligned with the goals of addressing the impacts of climate change. However, it may also be possible for social protection to contribute to longer-term adaptation. Evidence on whether social protection interventions have built resilience and adaptive capacity is lacking. These concepts, while reasonably well conceptualised, suffer from difficulties in measuring and demonstrating impact. The best evidence comes from weather-indexed insurance programmes and public works programmes. The evidence on impacts is mainly drawn from case studies. All three disciplines of CCA, DRR and social protection attempt to address vulnerability. The adaptive social protection framework argues that interventions must be integrated in order to successfully mitigate vulnerability to climate shock. CCA and DRR cannot address root causes of poverty and vulnerability, while social protection cannot change climate-dependent livelihoods.