The Role of Social Protection in Alleviating the Adverse Impacts of Climate Change Mitigation Policies and Achieving a Just Transition

The Paris target of 1.5°C warming can only be achieved through a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which will require the rapid implementation of bold Climate Change Mitigation (CCM) policies. While CCM policies are essential for emission control, their price and employment effects can result in welfare losses for the poor and undermine popular support for implementation.

This webinar will share findings from a recent study commissioned by KfW and prepared by Anna McCord and Cecilia Costella, Pathways for Social Protection in the Just Transition of Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The report draws on recent literature to explore the impacts of three major CCM approaches—Energy Subsidy Reform (ESR), Carbon Taxation, and the green transition—on poverty and summarises how social protection can be used to mitigate these negative impacts and promote the acceptability of CCM interventions, contributing to the realisation of a just transition.

It also sets out practical recommendations for designing and implementing social protection systems to support these three CCM approaches, including recommendations for development partner investment.