1. Background                                           

The importance of social protection in responding to climate is increasingly recognized internationally, including in the Paris Agreement, the 2024 Pact of the Future, the Doha Political Declaration, and, at regional level, the 2026 Baku-Bangkok Declaration on Promoting Social Development for Advancing Societies for All Ages in Asia and the Pacific. Climate change and rising socioeconomic inequality are closely intertwined, with the most severe effect falling on marginalized populations who often lack the capacity to cope with complex, overlapping shocks to health, income, food security and mobility. Nevertheless, there remains little integration between climate and social protection policymaking. 

The Climate Resilient and Inclusive Social Protection (CRISP) in Asia and the Pacific initiative is supporting countries to harness social protection to build climate resilience and support climate action. Under the initiative, country studies are being conducted and data tools are being developed to strengthen the knowledge base and identify country pathways for social protection to strengthen climate resilience and promote climate action. 

Country studies are being conducted to examine social protection and institutional capacities in the context of climate change. In parallel, CRISP is advancing a data and analytics workstream, using macroeconomic modelling and simulation tools to help quantify the impacts of climate change and climate policy on livelihoods and poverty, and to inform how social protection responses can be designed to mitigate the impacts.

In 5 partner countries (Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand) the CRISP initiative is identifying country pathways. Notable climate-social protection initiatives are also being documented in 6 reference countries (China, Nepal, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines and Viet Nam) to broaden the evidence base of good practice available for regional peer learning. 

Taken together, the national studies, the reference country evidence and the data and modelling work aim to strengthen the links between social protection and climate action. They will also feed into the preparation of a regional roadmap to build knowledge and capacity across the Asian and Pacific region. 

In addition to the above, the building of mutual understanding, shared vocabulary and institutional coordination between social protection and climate policymakers is a central and ongoing challenge in the region. As countries advance the implementation of their NDCs, National Adaptation Plans and just transition strategies, and as the socioeconomic impacts of climate change and climate policy become more evident, there is a clear and growing need to bring social protection and climate change policymakers into structured dialogue with one another. 

In support of such a dialogue, ESCAP is convening a CRISP Regional Dialogue, 9-10 November 2026, UNCC, Bangkok, to bring together governments and stakeholders to strengthen knowledge and capacity, share progress and promote intersectoral dialogue and understanding. The Dialogue will be held back-to-back with the ninth session of the Committee on Social Development, 11-13 November 2026, UNCC, Bangkok. 

2. Objectives of Regional CRISP Dialogue

The workshop aims to:

• share progress on implementation of the CRISP initiatives at national level 
• strengthen capacity of stakeholders to facilitate policy dialogue on interlinkages between social protection and climate change.
• foster South-South cooperation through the exchange of good practices, lessons learned and innovative approaches to promote climate resilient and inclusive social protection.
• generate strategic inputs and recommendations to inform the development of a regional roadmap on climate resilient and inclusive social protection.

3. Participants

Participants will be invited from countries partnering with ESCAP to promote climate resilient and inclusive social protection, including Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. Development partners and thinktanks will also be invited to join the dialogue.

4. Format

The workshop will involve a mixture of presentations and group work to promote interaction and peer learning.