This note aims to support Ministries of Environment, Finance and other key national partners to integrate social protection within their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to accelerate climate action. The ambition and effective implementation of updated NDCs will determine whether the world will be on track to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement: to limit the temperature increase, to finance and build abilities to adapt to climate impacts and to strengthen resilience of people and the planet. Social protection, designed to address life risks and already operating at scale, can play a foundational role in reaching these ambitious goals and delivering a just transition. Strong social protection systems have been essential in supporting ambitious climate change mitigation actions; they can build foundational resilience and adaptive capacity across the population and can be designed to respond rapidly, or even in anticipation, of extreme climate events.
This note outlines how integrating social protection into the development and implementation of NDCs can accelerate climate action to:
- deliver on mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage goals,
- meet the needs and activate the capacities of large parts of the population with direct reach to vulnerable groups,
- draw on significant data, analyses and capacities of ministries/agencies involved in delivering social protection, and
- ensure NDCs are aligned with existing decisions and commitments at the international level.
A Spanish language version of this note is also available.