Social protection a central global goal for ending poverty and enhancing human capital

The brief, jointly authored with German Development Institute and ActionAid, looks at policy gaps in implementing social protection to support action on loss and damage at the national level, and outlines areas for capacity-building in countries from the global South. This brief reiterates support for the plan of action on climate-related loss and damage developed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's ‘Technical expert group on comprehensive risk management’ (TEG-CRM).

The new brief recommends priorities to strengthen social protection to minimize damage from climate extremes and slow-onset hazards such as such as desertification, rising sea-levels and lost biodiversity. Social protection can also blunt less tangible, non-economic impacts on human health, natural resources, migration and social cohesion. Nevertheless, these approaches face limitations linked to a narrow focus and weak integration with broader agendas and national strategies. The brief also identifies priorities for increasing capacity and investment in action on national policy and implementation, as well as and knowledge and technical capacities.