A fighting chance: Closing social protection gaps in small island developing states as climate justice in action

Small island developing states (SIDS) are acutely vulnerable to the climate crisis. Substantial and persistent social protection gaps continue to hold SIDS back and limit their resilience. This ILO brief outlines some of the different ways that social protection can help SIDS experience a just transition by supporting and enabling equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts everywhere. Crucially, it asserts that social protection systems are an essential element for addressing loss and damage in SIDS. The publication also examines strategies to fill social protection financing gaps and highlights that SIDS are not impotent to build or further enhance their social protection systems.