DHAKA, Sept 12, 2024 (BSS) - The governments should take more initiatives for ensuring universal social protection to mitigate and cope up with the effects of the climate changes, said a recently published report of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

     "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," according to the World Social Protection Report 2024-26.

     The report also finds that those countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change often have the lowest levels of social protection.

     For the first time, more than half of the global population (52.4 per cent) has some form of social protection coverage, said the report. This is up from 42.8 per cent in 2015, the year when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, it added.

     However, globally, most children (76.1 per cent) still have no effective social protection coverage, according to the report.

     The 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.

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

     "Many of the 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 added.

     Gilbert said, "Universal social protection is top of the list of tools that we have at our disposal to help us ensure that the climate crisis does not deepen existing inequalities and exclusion in affected communities."

    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, he said.