Half the world lacks social protection amid climate crisis, ILO warns

Around 50 percent of us do have access to at least one social protection benefit – but 3.8 billion people lack any kind of safety net, including 1.8 billion children worldwide, according to the World Social Protection Report 2024-26: Universal Social Protection for climate action and a just transition.

“Climate change does not recognize borders, and we cannot build a wall to keep the crisis out,” said Gilbert Houngbo, ILO Director-General. “The climate crisis affects us all and represents the single, gravest threat to social justice today.”

Findings showed that governments are failing to make full use of the powerful potential of social protection to counter the effects of the climate crisis and support a just transition to a greener future.

Reflects ‘deeply divided world’

For the first time, more than half of the global population (52.4 percent) has some form of social protection, climbing from 42.8 percent in 2015, the year the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted, according to the report.

But, in the 20 countries most climate-vulnerable, 91.3 percent of people – or 364 million – still go without. More broadly, in the 50 most climate-vulnerable countries, 75 percent of the population – or 2.1 billion people – lacks protection.

“The stark disparity in the right to social protection is a reflection of our deeply divided world,” said Mia Seppo, ILO Assistant Director-General. “The most urgent challenge is protecting those at the frontline of the climate crisis.”

Globally, most children (76.1 percent) still have no effective social protection coverage, and a substantial gender gap persists, with women’s effective coverage lagging behind men by 50.1 and 54.6 percent, respectively.

These gaps are especially significant, given the potential role of social protection in softening the impact of climate change, helping people and societies adapt to a new climate-volatile reality, and facilitating a just transition to a sustainable future.

The ILO chief cautioned that many countries experiencing the most brutal consequences of this crisis are particularly ill-equipped to handle its environmental and livelihood consequences.

“We must recognize that what happens to impacted communities will affect us all,” he said.

How social protection helps

Social protection can help people adapt to and cope with climate-related shocks by providing social protection benefits, such as income security and access to healthcare, and cushioning families, workers, and enterprises during the green transition.

It can also enable more sustainable economic practices, including supporting employees with training and upskilling for employment in green and low-carbon sectors.

“Social protection is essential to ensure that the ongoing green and low-carbon energy transition leaves no one behind,” ILO chief Houngbo said. “The imperative to make social protection universal is not only ethical; it is also practical.

“By supporting and protecting workers everywhere, we can help to alleviate fears about the transition, which is essential to mobilize popular support for a sustainable and just transition.”

Jonalyn Millana, a health monitor in the ILO’s cash-for-work activity Rebuilding Better Coconut Economy project with the government of Japan, explained how social protection helps.

“When it comes to social safety, like health insurance, we don’t know when a typhoon will hit,” she said. “I am more protected now because if anything happens, I will have something to receive like for example insurances like PhilHealth [health insurance], SSS [social security]. I feel safer because I have social protection.”

Governments must step in

Despite its role as a catalyst and an enabler of positive climate action, governments are failing to make the most of social protection’s potential, largely because of persistent coverage gaps and significant underinvestment, the new report found.

On average, countries spend 12.9 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on social protection, excluding health. However, while high-income countries spend an average of 16.2 percent, low-income countries allocate only 0.8 percent of their GDP to social protection.

Low-income countries, including the most climate-vulnerable States, need an additional $308.5 billion a year, or 52.3 percent of their GDP, to guarantee at least basic coverage and international support will be needed to reach this goal.

The ILO report calls for decisive and integrated policy action to close protection gaps, arguing that, “it is time to up the ante” and invest significantly in social protection.