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        ILO press conference: launch of World Social Protection Report
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        Press Conferences | ILO

        ILO press conference: launch of World Social Protection Report

        Launch of World Social Protection Report 2024-26: Universal social protection for climate action and a just transition.

         

        Speakers:  

        • Mia Seppo, ILO Assistant Director-General
        • Shahra Razavi, Department Director, SOCPRO, ILO
        Teleprompter
        Good morning, colleagues. Thank you for being with us here today.
        today we are launching the International Labour
        Organization's World Social Protection Report 2024 to 2026
        Universal social protection for climate action and a just transition
        which couldn't be any more topical given what's happening in the world today.
        I'm very pleased to have
        Assistant Director General Mia
        Seppo with us
        AD
        G Miao
        oversees our jobs and social protection strand of
        work as well as Social Protection Department Director
        Shara
        Ravi
        with us
        Just a quick reminder that the report
        and all associated material including this press
        this press conference is under embargo until 11:30 a.m. CE T Geneva local time.
        And with this, I'd like to hand over to a dg
        seppo over to you.
        Thank you.
        Ladies and gentlemen,
        welcome to the launch of the word Social Protection report for 2024 to 2026.
        The report serves a dual purpose.
        Firstly,
        it provides a comprehensive global overview of the state of social protection.
        Secondly,
        it addresses the most significant threat to social justice, the climate crisis.
        The report illustrates how social protection systems can
        shield individuals from the consequences of climate breakdown,
        such as extreme weather and rising temperatures.
        It shows how social protection can support much needed climate policies
        and catalyse a just transition to a more sustainable planet.
        During turning our attention to the current state of social protection,
        the report offers grounds for optimism for the
        first time over half of the global population,
        52.4 per cent
        benefit from some form of social protection,
        marking a significant improvement
        from the 42.8 per cent recorded in 2015.
        However,
        a distressingly high number of individuals remain unprotected
        against common life risks such as illness,
        poverty, unemployment
        or lack protection. In old age.
        Worldwide, 3.8 billion people, predominantly in the global south,
        lack any form of social protection, leaving them unprepared for life cycle risks
        and the environmental challenges that lie ahead.
        The stark disparity in the right to social protection
        is a reflection of our deeply divided world.
        The most urgent challenge is protecting those at
        the front line of the climate crisis.
        In the 20 countries most at risk, 91.3% of the population,
        or 364 million individuals, are without social protection.
        The consequences of these protection gaps are already severe
        and will only intensify as
        these populations face escalating climate disturbances
        and the adverse effects of slow onset
        changes like rising sea levels and desertification.
        Now let's examine some of the
        report's findings on social protection,
        focusing on specific benefits and demographic groups.
        A significant gender gap exists in social protection
        coverage with 50.1% of women, compared to 54.6 for men.
        Social protection systems must become more gender responsive as part of
        a larger set of policies to address inequalities in labour markets.
        Employment and society at large
        Children are particularly vulnerable to climate crisis
        and will have increased needs for protection.
        An overwhelming majority of Children worldwide 76% or €1.08 billion
        do not receive child benefits.
        Public expenditures on social protection for Children
        needs to increase.
        Only 16.7 of unemployed individuals receive
        unemployment benefits with notable regional differences.
        Young people, self-employed,
        digital platform workers and those in agriculture
        and migrants often lack unemployment protection,
        leaving them vulnerable when job loss or income disruption
        occurs.
        Governments are not fully harnessing the potential of social protection largely
        due to persistent gaps in coverage caused by significant under investments.
        On average, countries allocate 12.9 per cent of their GDP to social protection.
        However, low income countries invest a mere 0.8 per cent of their GDP,
        while 52.3 per cent would be required to ensure
        a basic level of social protection for all.
        Filling these gaps to guarantee minimum social
        protection for everyone requires concerted international co-operation.
        It entails prioritising investment in social protection,
        including external support mechanisms like loss and damage financing
        funding, especially for countries with limited fiscal space.
        It requires an increase in climate finance to complement
        ODA.
        Studies show
        that since 2018, over half of the climate finance provided to develop
        provided by developed nations was not additional to existing development aid.
        Achieving greater tax justice requires
        increased tax progressivity and eradicating
        tax evasion and avoidance at both national and international levels.
        Climate justice should guide efforts to address the
        climate crisis and ensure a just transition.
        The ones who have contributed the least to the crisis are bearing the
        brunt of it
        and they are those with the most constrained
        resources and weak systems to prepare and respond.
        Therefore,
        wealthier nations and richer groups within all societies should assume
        a greater financial responsibility in
        the pursuit of environmental sustainability.
        Developing social protection systems and the expansion of
        social protection is thus a crucial step in addressing
        the deep rooted global and domestic disparities that
        have been further exacerbated by the climate crisis.
        By expanding social protection,
        we can help rectify long-standing global and domestic inequalities
        and inequities rendered more pronounced by the climate crisis.
        Social protection not only safeguards individuals from poverty and inequality,
        but also generates public support for climate policies.
        It ensures that workers
        have income security such as unemployment benefits,
        which provides them with the stability to acquire
        new skills and knowledge needed to get a job
        in the green and low carbon sectors.
        Such
        measures can alleviate concerns among workers,
        employers and communities regarding the transition,
        thereby mobilising popular support for a sustainable and just transition.
        Having outlined the current state of social protection
        and its capacity to facilitate a just transition,
        I now pass to my colleague
        Sara Razavi.
        Sarah will give you some examples of
        the ways social protection can support climate action
        and what policy action is needed
        Sarah over
        to you.
        Thank you so much, Mia
        and good morning to everyone.
        You have whetted the appetite.
        And now I want to give some concrete examples
        of how social protection can contribute to climate change,
        mitigation and adaptation,
        and finish with some overarching policy recommendations.
        So first,
        promising examples of mitigation that is stopping the
        drivers of the climate change and climate crisis
        and keeping fossil fuels in the ground
        two concrete ways.
        The progressive and careful phasing out of what
        are often very regressive fossil fuel subsidies.
        This is commonplace in many middle income countries,
        and it is effective in freeing substantial fiscal
        space in order to invest in social protection
        reforms. Subsidy reforms could drastically reduce CO two emissions.
        Raise revenues that we calculate can amount to about 11% of GDP
        and prevent millions of deaths that are caused by air pollution every year.
        But it needs to be done carefully, and the sequencing is key,
        with social protection benefits already in
        place to compensate households before the
        subsidies are removed so as not to face the kind of resistance
        that often comes when such benefits are not in
        place in order to give people the income security
        that they need as their prices for electricity and
        energy increase as a result of subsidy removals.
        A second example.
        The greening of public pension funds, both public and private pension funds.
        Enormous tranches of global capital. We calculate that it's around $53
        trillion.53 trillion US dollars that are nestled in these funds
        in the OECD countries alone.
        Prudently divesting these funds from fossil fuels would
        be enormously helpful in our mitigation efforts,
        and the good news is that some countries are already doing it.
        Canada and Denmark provide good examples.
        Moving to adaptation Social protection can also
        help people adapt to climate change,
        and it does so by providing the income security and the access to healthcare.
        That really is what is needed to increase resilience. This helps prevent poverty
        and to reduce inequalities,
        which really is effective in increasing capacity of people to cope and to adapt.
        And here I want to highlight, for example, health protection.
        This will help people deal with the spread of new and existing diseases which we know
        are also spreading as a result of the
        climate crisis and also the loss of biodiversity,
        a
        healthier population we know is also way better
        placed to cope with many of the challenges,
        like the higher temperatures that
        we know are associated with cardiovascular risks. For example,
        another concrete example is the way in
        which countries are using their social protection system
        to compensate workers for lost wages on days when it is too hot for them to work.
        This particularly affects workers, for example,
        in sectors such as construction or agriculture.
        This is a good case, for example,
        Algeria of putting in those kind of benefits
        to compensate for these wages that are lost.
        And another example is of Brazil leveraging its existing social protection system
        to the recent floods which it faced
        and was able to provide vital support.
        Pensioners,
        those who were receiving social assistance benefits and also unemployment
        benefits received both higher levels of benefits.
        As a result of this disruption that was caused and
        also efforts were made to make those benefits available quicker
        and with less administrative hurdles that beneficiaries
        would have to need to address.
        Now the report has many practical examples like these.
        But what I really want to convey is that we do have at our fingertips all the policy
        mechanisms needed to protect people from both the everyday
        life cycle risks that they face as well as
        ways of dealing with the climate crisis.
        So the challenge is not in having
        policy examples and good practises that we can draw on.
        The challenge really is in having to address the lack or
        the dearth of financing for what needs to be done.
        And also,
        if I can say, a dearth of political will to make change
        happen quickly and effectively.
        The clear message from this report is the urgent need
        to build a basic level of Social Security for all,
        a social protection floor that is robust.
        This means getting the basics right
        and having a social protection that is universal and accessible to everyone.
        That provides adequate benefits that can ensure a decent living standard
        that is comprehensive and can cover the full range of risks that people face
        that is adapted and more responsive to climate shocks
        and that is sustainably and equitably financed and grounded
        in the principles of decent work and rights.
        I think these are the key takeaways that we want to leave you with
        no society, regardless
        of its level of income can navigate the climate crisis,
        nor be able to enjoy a greener future without having social protection at the helm.
        Ultimately,
        it's time for policy makers to take decisive action for both people and the planet.
        Thank you.
        Thank you very much. AD, G,
        Seppo and, uh, uh,
        Shara for your presentation.
        I would now like to open up the floor to questions I just
        would like to ask you to please introduce yourself and your outlet.
        Uh, we'll start in the room,
        please.
        Uh, Mexi, uh, Musa
        Si
        Alma
        in TV
        te. Welcome,
        sir.
        I
        keep
        a guarantee
        in security.
        It's clear that the most vulnerable countries are the least prepared.
        And it's also clear that the fiscal space that these countries have doesn't
        allow them to build a minimum social protection floor on their own.
        And this is where the whole ethos of the climate justice comes in.
        So we are looking at
        how both to ensure that climate finance
        is complementary to existing official development assistance
        There ongoing discussions about the role of climate,
        social protection in the loss and damage financing
        And then, of course, there Innovative discussions around
        taxation, tax, justice, taxation, reform
        as well as as just global solidarity.
        I think one of the key conversations that will
        happen also in the summit of the future,
        is how do we ensure
        the global solidarity needed to protect the countries
        at the front line of the climate crisis?
        But certain
        financing is going to be key for it, but not the only one.
        As Shara was mentioning earlier,
        it's important to focus the effort to help countries get the basics right.
        So get their systems in place that can then be adapted to respond when a crisis hits.
        Uh
        uh
        uh
        uh,
        The the security
        on
        there is some effects still to now from COVID-19.
        Can you hear me?
        Um
        so
        maybe just on the COVID-19. As
        we have been speaking not only in this report, but other reports of the ILO.
        The recovery from covid is happening, but it's very uneven
        in terms of enterprises in terms of employment,
        picking up and providing the decent jobs and the financing
        that is needed domestically for building social protection systems.
        That we know is clearly the case,
        but also with the changes that happened after the pandemic. The rise in interest
        rates,
        which have made the debt burden of many both middle income
        and low income countries very difficult to service and servicing.
        That debt has become extremely onerous
        and countries are spending often more on paying
        interest rates than on being better health,
        education and social protection
        investment in those three areas combined.
        So these are also longer lasting legacies of covid,
        which are continuing and which have led to
        the cost of living crisis and the fiscal crisis that many countries are facing.
        And this continues to make it difficult, particularly for low income countries,
        to find the fiscal space that they need domestically
        to be able to close the financing gap.
        As
        Mia mentioned, there are global discussions and efforts. Mia
        mentioned the summit of the future, which is very important,
        but also in 2025 we are going to have the Financing for Development
        Conference, which is going to take place where there will be discussions about how
        the global financial architecture
        and be better prepared to really support low income countries
        by being able to deal with the debt issue,
        which is causing a lot of distress in many developing
        countries and taking away the fiscal space that they need
        also addressing the issue of tax evasion and
        tax avoidance both within countries but also globally
        and being able to have greater revenues coming in,
        particularly from taxation of multinational corporations.
        That will really need to pay their
        fair share of taxes as well in order to support the financing requirements,
        particularly of low but also of middle income countries.
        Let me just add one quick comment.
        One of the obvious lessons from the covid response
        was that countries with very high levels of informality
        had big
        numbers of people without any form of social protection.
        So
        is focusing on supporting countries with the formalisation process and thereby
        addressing both the decent work deficit but also
        the extension of social protection to people who
        had no social protection during the pandemic.
        Thank you.
        Any other questions in the room?
        Hello?
        Uh, my name is Monica. I'm from, uh, Brazil, Brazil, de Fato.
        And, uh, I had 33 question.
        I'm sorry, my English, but I intend
        many countries have seen a growing number of climate, relation, disasters.
        My country, my state of original
        do
        in south of Brazil
        had severe
        flood. They affect millions of persons in last May.
        What does the report recommend to countries
        regarding the link between social protection and climate
        related disasters?
        Thank you for the question.
        Let me start. And maybe I
        want to compliment. Just to note that
        the Brazil response to the devastating floods
        is a really good example of why countries
        that have a basic social protection system in place are actually able to respond,
        as Sarah mentioned in her remarks,
        able to then respond to the most vulnerable to tackle
        both vulnerabilities and possible job impact very quickly
        by adapting the existing social protection system.
        So it's a good lesson in terms of looking at the challenges of the countries
        at the front line of the climate crisis who do not have even the
        basics in place in terms of social protection systems that can then be adapted
        given.
        Then, after a basic system is in place,
        there will always be a need for
        making sure that the governance structures are properly
        in place to respond and to adjust and to make
        sure that there's financial sustainability of the social protection system.
        I
        is a tripartite institution,
        and we support countries also ensure
        that the governance structures take into account
        the tripartite conversations in terms of making sure the
        governance and the financial sustainability is carefully considered.
        Thank you for those questions and I think Mia has already answered
        the questions.
        But I just want to add maybe a point on the role of trade unions, which we think are
        you have been and continue to be very important agents of change.
        And in this regard they can lobby their
        governments to find fiscal space for social protection.
        They can also help the extension of social
        protection to workers in the informal economy,
        which, as Mia
        mentioned, is a very important challenge that many countries are facing
        because they know which groups of workers have some contributory capacity and
        would be easier to include and to extend social insurance schemes,
        too.
        They also have a very important role to play in making sure that
        by informing their members about new policies and legislation
        so that workers have the information that they need about their entitlements
        and about the benefits that they can receive and how to
        navigate the system and how to also support it
        and have faith in the system and continue to contribute to it.
        There is as we know a lot of evasion of payments and contributions.
        And I think building that trust in systems
        is absolutely critical so that both employers and
        workers continue to make their contributions so that
        these social contributory systems can stay financially viable.
        And I think, as agents that are closest to workers,
        they will also know first hand how social protection systems can be improved can be
        made more accessible so that those who contribute
        to them can also benefit from them.
        Thank you.
        Thank you very much.
        I don't see any more hands in the room online.
        I don't see any hands up online, um, for task questions.
        So if we don't have any more questions, I think we can, uh,
        close this press conference.
        Thank you very much for being with us. Uh, today
        and, uh, have a good rest of the day