Noticias
ILO @ COP29: How does social protection contribute to achieving the Global Goal on Adaptation?
The need to scale up ambition for climate change adaptation has never been clearer than in the past year. In 2024, record-breaking climate events adversely impacted people around the world: landslides in Papua New Guinea, floods in Brazil and Spain, and tropical super storms in the US and Viet Nam claimed lives, severely disrupted livelihoods, and caused billions in damages. Upholding Just Transition principles— including decent work, labour rights, and ensuring no one is left behind— is just as critical for supporting workers, vulnerable groups and communities affected by climate change impacts, as it is for advancing the transition to net zero.
Social protection is increasingly being recognised as fundamental for climate change adaptation, including at COP28 last year, where adaptive social protection for all was referenced as part of one of seven thematic targets for reaching the Global Goal on Adaptation. A two-year work programme on developing the indicators to measure progress towards these targets was established.
At the 29th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), which took place from 11 to 23 November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the ILO hosted a panel discussion on the role of social protection in achieving the Global Goal on Adaptation.
The engaging discussion was framed by a presentation delivered by Jana Bischler, Technical Officer, Social Protection and Climate Change at the ILO’s Universal Social Protection Department. This included several examples of how social protection in different countries contributes to adaptation and resilience, along with the latest data from the ILO’s World Social Protection Report 2024-26 on social protection coverage worldwide, including in countries most vulnerable to climate change.
The Gambia and Viet Nam reflect on the importance of social protection for climate change adaptation in their countries
The discussion was opened by Mr Momodou Dibba, National Coordinator of the Gambia’s National Social Protection Secretariat, who argued that investments must be made before crises strike.
Building an effective social protection system is one of the main adaptive measures that can be put in place.
- Momodou Dibba, National Coordinator, the Gambia’s National Social Protection Secretariat
According to Mr Dibba, the explicit reference to social protection in the Global Goal on Adaptation helped set the policy direction at the national level and provides a good entry point for mainstreaming social protection in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). In developing countries, the main reasons for low social protection coverage relates to financing but “having good indicators on social protection under the Global Goal on Adaptation is important for domestic and international resource mobilisation because it becomes a commitment we need to fulfil.”
Mr Dibba’s reflections were echoed by Ms Nguyen Giang Thu from Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, who shared her country’s recent devastating experience with Super Storm Yagi, which caused over USD$3 billion in damages.
I think social protection is very important in helping people cope effectively with the impact of climate change, like in the case of job losses due to natural disasters.
- Nguyen Giang Thu, Deputy Director General, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viet Nam
Ms Thu affirmed that although Viet Nam has made great progress in strengthening its social protection system in recent years, social protection measures were often too slow to support those affected by disasters, underscoring the need for continued reforms and improvements to address the increasing frequency and severity of climate events.
Expert insights: the search for social protection indicators to track adaptation progress
Catherine Simonet, a climate change adaptation expert at Agence Française de Développement (AFD) highlighted that the targets and indicators of the Global Goal on Adaptation are expected to help shift the focus from the quantum of climate finance to measurable results and outcomes for people.
At AFD, there is this conviction that social protection is contributing to adaptation and actually, there is a huge need for climate-adaptation finance in this area.
- Catherine Simonet, climate change adaptation expert, AFD
Ms Simonet is one of the experts selected by UNFCCC to support the work on the indicator development under the UAE-Belem work programme – specifically for the target on reducing the impact of climate change on poverty and livelihoods – including through adaptive social protection measures for all. Ms Simonet explained that countries and observers submitted a range of indicators related to social protection but that the final set of indicators would only be adopted at COP30 in Belem. At COP29, experts are expecting to receive further guidance from parties on how to select indicators. In addition to their relevance to adaptation, it is likely that important criteria for indicator selection relate to the aggregability, data availability and measurability.
Voices from the frontlines: The experiences of workers and employers
Joy Quitain Hernandez from ITUC Asia-Pacific shared how workers in the region are affected by climate change: domestic workers in Pakistan lose out on wages when they are unable to reach their workplaces during floods and agricultural workers in Bangladesh displaced by climate events are often forced into precarious jobs in urban areas with poor working conditions.
Social protection systems in Asia Pacific are not equipped to cover the contingencies and risks people face across their lives and exclude a large segment of the population who are in the informal economy, especially women.
- Joy Quitain Hernandez, ITUC Asia-Pacific
Nevertheless, positive examples have emerged in the region:
- A heat wave insurance piloted in India which provides compensation for unworked days of homebased workers due to extreme heat.
- Paid leave for workers in Fiji during cyclone-related evacuations.
- Better occupational safety and health measures for tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka facing risks of landslides.
Workers, who are one of the nine constituencies in the UNFCCC, have the following demands with regards to social protection and climate change adaptation:
We want social protection that ensures income security, access to healthcare, climate-specific measures such as compensation for lost working hours, injuries and loss of lives due to extreme weather events, as well as protection from climate-induced occupational hazards. This should include a mechanism through social dialogue of including trade unions in the process of developing social protection measures and integrating social protection in National Adaptation Plans.
The discussion was further enriched by dynamic audience participation, with Renatus Mbamilo from the Tanzanian Association of Employers sharing valuable insights. He highlighted the critical role of budget allocation and execution for social protection, especially during climate shocks, stressing the need for institutions to be more responsive and for legislation to clearly address climate-related shocks.
Mr Mbamilo reaffirmed employers' readiness to support these efforts, citing examples such as workers' compensation funds, where employers contribute approximately 0.5% of the total wage bill monthly, including coverage for employees affected by climate-related incidents. Finally, he joined Ms. Hernandez in calling for greater consideration of informal sector workers who “contribute the largest proportion of economic activity” but are largely excluded from existing social protection systems.