| Resumen: |
Social protection is a powerful yet underutilized tool for delivering inclusive climate change adaptation, mitigation, and just transitions for vulnerable populations, particularly in rural areas. While the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has incorporated social protection in some projects, its use remains limited and unevenly distributed, especially in low-income countries. There is also scope to enhance approaches to social protection to better address gendered inequalities, broader inclusion and long-term, system-strengthening efforts. This review of 23 GCF-funded projects highlights promising approaches, for example through public works programmes and cash plus approaches combining income support with climate-smart agricultural practices. It also identifies key challenges, such as weak coordination between the climate and social protection sectors, gaps in targeting marginalized groups (e.g. migrants and persons with disabilities), the absence of social insurance mechanisms in the current funded portfolio, and limited financing for long-term sustainability. To maximize impact, future GCF investments should scale up the use of social protection as an instrument for inclusive climate adaptation, mitigation and just transitions for rural populations in low-income countries, while enhancing gender and inclusion efforts, strengthening long-term system building and cross-sectoral coordination, and fostering global partnerships for financing and knowledge-sharing. Through these efforts, the GCF can play a pivotal role in ensuring climate finance reaches the most vulnerable, driving sustainable, inclusive, and just climate action. |
