A Socially Just Transformation Through Integrated Social Protection ‘Plus’ Programming

Increasingly, the world’s 2-3 billion poor and vulnerable people face multiple overlaying crises – climate-related disasters, conflicts, the COVID-19 pandemic and others. The complex challenges resulting from the ambition to become carbon-neutral by 2050 and tackle these crises in tandem may adversely affect vulnerable people and communities, including people in and near poverty. To achieve a socially just transition, the G7 should lead a global campaign to promote integrated social protection programmes and the concept of ‘growth from below’ as cornerstones of development strategies, which together form the Integrated Social Protection Plus (ISSP) approach. This would enable a green recovery and fair transition towards green energy in the G7’s Just Transition Partnerships countries while helping to protect vulnerable people and households against some of the many risks they face. The ISSP approach would not only contribute to reducing poverty rates and preventing impoverishment but also help address multidimensional inequalities, working towards the 2030 Agenda’s mandate of leaving no one behind.