snippets from a comic about how GIZ's work helps communities adapt to climate related crises

January 2026

Bridging the gap:

Building systems to withstand tomorrow’s shocks

Vulnerability Level

Low High

Several countries in the world are highly vulnerable to climate shocks. University of Notre Dame’s ND-GAIN index score published in 2025 measures this vulnerability by looking at six life-supporting sectors – food, water, health, ecosystem service, human habitat and infrastructure.

The same countries that are vulnerable lack social protection as well. Climate shocks are hitting the world’s poorest households first and hardest. According to the ILO’s World Social Protection Report 2024-26, 3.8 billion people, about half of the world’s population, have no social protection at all.

Let’s look at this relationship a bit more closely.

These are the countries that are most vulnerable to climate shocks, and have less than half their population under social protection. Most of these countries are in

Asia and

Africa. The size of the dot represents the country's population.

If we add up all the people without social protection in these countries, more than 2 billion people–3 out of every 4 people living in these countries–are at risk. Hover over the countries to explore more.

Comic of the narrator telling us that we need everyone to come together to make ASP work

At The Meeting Point

Where resilience is shaped by policy

Shock response is not enough. Social protection needs to be embedded into the broader disaster risk management framework.

A comparison of climate vulnerability scores with social protection coverage across various vulnerable countries reveals a consistent pattern: those experiencing the highest climatic shocks tend to have the weakest buffers against them. Malawi, Rwanda, and Pakistan, where German development cooperation is actively working to address Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) and Social Protection (SP) issues, are positioned in the quadrant of high climate vulnerability and low social protection coverage, driven by recurrent floods, drought, erosion, and poverty. India and Cambodia fall in a moderate-coverage zone, but their high exposure such as floods and droughts in parts of India and climate-related health shocks in Cambodia, push millions into precarious livelihoods. Indonesia stands out as a country with significant disaster risk ranked 3rd globally while only slowly expanding adaptive SP mechanisms across provinces.

These data show why ASP is integral to climate resilience: social protection schemes with strong administrative systems, digital registries, and predictable financing act as “shock absorbers” for vulnerable households. When combined with early-warning triggers such as forecast-based financing or anticipatory cash these systems can prevent people from falling into poverty after disasters.

Visualising the data makes this clear upgrading SP systems yields the high impact per dollar invested. ASP becomes not just protective, but preventive.

Narrator explaining that she will go into a hypothetical scenario to illustrate how ASP works

Putting the puzzle together

How are we going to make it work?

Comic of the narrator telling us that ASP needs to be embedded into DRM frameworks

How ASP Works

Implementation Framework

Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) strengthens existing social protection systems so they can anticipate, absorb, and respond to shocks, rather than react after losses occur. According to the World Bank’s definition of Adaptive Social Protection, effective ASP systems are built by linking programmes, data and information, financing, and institutional coordination to manage risk before, during and after crises.

GIZ implements ASP projects commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in countries including Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Malawi, and Rwanda, with additional co-financing from the European Union in Pakistan and Malawi and from DFAT in Cambodia. Rather than applying a single blueprint, these initiatives adapt ASP principles to national systems and priorities.

Across countries, these projects focus on technical assistance, capacity development, digital integration, institutional coordination, and financing pathways, working through government-led systems rather than parallel structures. In practice, this means strengthening social registries, improving data interoperability with disaster and climate information, developing shock-responsive financing mechanisms, and supporting programmes such as cash transfers and climate-resilient public works.

Adaptive Social Protection (ASP ) comprises four key elements applied consistently through short- and long-term support to vulnerable communities.

Adaptive Social Protection invests in steps to prepare for, cope with and adapt to both natural man-made shocks to ensure that these communities do not get pushed further into poverty.

Source: World Bank Group

Comic of the narrator telling us that while the current measures work, we can do much more

Adaptation Finance

The evidence across India, Malawi, Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Rwanda shows that Adaptive Social Protection is not an abstract policy concept, it's a practical, scalable solution that protects people when climate shocks hit. By strengthening institutions, linking data systems, improving public works, expanding registries, and building predictable financing, ASP turns social protection into a frontline climate resilience instrument. It acts faster than humanitarian assistance, reaches deeper than conventional safety nets, and supports both immediate relief and long-term adaptation. In countries where climate hazards are rising, where droughts, floods, landslides, heatwaves, and health shocks increasingly define daily life, the ability to anticipate, respond, and recover is becoming the foundation of sustainable development.

Despite the evidence, the sector continues to be underfinanced. The Adaptation Gap Report 2025 from UNEP states that the adaptation finance gap is estimated to be 12-14 times of the finance flow noted in 2023. That is up to USD 365 billion, compared to 2023’s USD 26 billion.

Financing needs for climate adaptation efforts are 12–14× higher than current funding flows

A comparison of country-reported financing needs per year for and actual financing flows for 2023

Source: Adaptation Gap Report 2025

Note: In constant 2023 prices. Domestic and private finance flows are excluded.

Comic of the narrator directing us to some of the work done by GIZ across the globe

Where can you see GIZ’s work?

Country Profiles

Across six diverse contexts, German development cooperation projects partner with governments to adapt social protection systems to climate and disaster risks.

India

In India, project AVCERR supports the VB-G RAM G public works programme to strengthen disaster-resilient infrastructure measures, livelihoods and a decision support mechanism for improved planning and coordination.

A family of two posing for the camera, holding a laminated equity card featuring their personal details, which gives them access to social assistance benefits and basic health care.

Cambodia

In Cambodia, GIZ works with the government to integrate social protection into the country’s climate frameworks and to strengthen a social protection system that can respond to shocks.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the ASP Project works with federal and provincial government partners to improve multi-hazard risk assessments and strengthen climate-responsive social protection measures for vulnerable groups including women farmers, informal workers, and pregnant women.

Rwanda

In Rwanda, GIZ collaborates with government partners in social protection and disaster risk management to strengthen the country’s ability to respond efficiently to disasters through the social protection system. Our work includes piloting emergency cash transfers in regions highly vulnerable to floods and landslides and improving the integration of digital systems across both sectors. The project also advances the integration of social protection into Rwanda’s national climate commitments.

Malawi

In Malawi, the project System strengthening in social protection supports the Government of Malawi to closer align social protection and disaster risk management. One focus is that the Malawi Social Registry is further developed to be ready to support fast and efficient responses to shocks. The programme also supports the Government in advocacy on adaptive social protection as well as to increase the share of social protection spending that is financed from international climate finance.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, GIZ collaborates with both central and regional (provincial) governments, along with other key stakeholders, through the Disaster Risk Reduction Forum (DRR) partnership platform to strengthen the institutional and technical frameworks required to implement a holistic and integrated ASP system. The project operates at macro, meso, and micro levels in the Ring of Fire areas in two regions to bolster community resilience by investing in sustainable, adaptive and inclusive livelihood models throughout the disaster cycle, while addressing various disasters by integrating climate change adaptation measures and crafting innovative, adaptive, and sustainable financing tools and mechanisms through policies and funding that respond to disaster risks.

Resilience emerges when climate and disaster risk management systems are integrated with social protection infrastructure. When governments can scale support automatically, deliver quickly, and target precisely, households are better able to protect their livelihoods, assets, and environments. Strengthening ASP today means building a more secure future for millions.

Comic of the narrator telling us that ASP can help the most vulnerable be prepared for disasters.