Accelerating climate change will generate significant social, economic and political disruption globally by the middle of this century, including in the Asia-Pacific region. It will profoundly reshape the socio-economic risks people face and their ability to meet basic needs, significantly extending poverty and vulnerability. 

Social protection has the potential to play an important role in helping to manage these challenges and enable the structural changes required to achieve a green transition. However, to contribute effectively, existing social protection systems will need significant transformation. 

This webinar called for a shift in vision around social protection and climate change in the Asia-Pacific region and globally, based on improved understanding of the socio-economic challenges likely to arise from climate change and their implications in terms of social protection needs.  It identified and illustrated the functions that social protection can play to promote resilience, adaptation, shock response and mitigation and identifies some of the challenges to current practice that changing climate needs will engender. 

This webinar was based on the findings of a report prepared for DFAT by Cecilia Costella and Anna McCord of the Climate Change and Social Protection Research Initiative (CCASP), available through DFAT’s social protection publications page: Social protection publications | Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (dfat.gov.au)

 

Speakers:

Sayanti Sengupta, Technical Advisor at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre; Advisor to the Climate Change and Social Protection Research Initiative (CCASP) and Independent Consultant in Poverty and Inequality Practice

Anna McCord, Co-founder & Lead of Climate Change and Social Protection Research Initiative (CCASP), Independent Consultant in Poverty and Inequality Practice, and Senior Research Associate of ODI

Lisa Hannigan, Senior Adviser – Social Protection at the Development Performance and Advisory Services Branch / Development Effectiveness and Enabling Division, Australian Government/Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

Peter Elder, Director at the Climate Resilience and Finance Branch, Climate Diplomacy and Development Finance Division, Australian Government/Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

Moderator: Jacqui Powell, Adviser and Assistant Director - Social Protection at the Development Performance and Advisory Services Branch, Development Effectiveness and Program Enabling Division, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

 

Resources

Social protection and climate change: scaling up ambition (2021)

Materials on Development Finance Pathways for Social Protection in the Just Transition of Low- and Middle Income Countries (2023)

Can Social Protection Tackle Risks Emerging from Climate Change, and How? a Framework and a Critical Review

Anna McCord website

Cecilia Costella website