How Pacific nations are adapting social protection to climate shocks

The Pacific region faces both short- and long-term climate impacts, ranging from cyclones and tsunamis to rising sea levels and prolonged droughts.

Many countries are using their existing social protection systems to better prepare for, respond to, and cope with climate shocks.

Case studies from Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea were shared in a virtual learning session, Enabling Adaptive/Shock Responsive Social Protection, on 25 June 2025.

Bringing together over 70 participants, the session was organised by the Pacific Resilience Partnership, hosted by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and supported by Partnerships for Social Protection (P4SP) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Kiribati: A lifecycle approach to build resilience

Kiribati consists of 33 atolls (21 inhabited) spread across 3.5 million square kilometres of ocean.

It has a robust social protection system, designed to ensure no one is left behind.

The Minister for Women, Youth, Sport, and Social Assistance, Ruth Cross Kwansing, explained that the system includes benefits for the unemployed, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

“More than 67,000 beneficiaries are paid monthly or quarterly, and the majority of this is cash payments.”

Social protection programs have driven significant reductions in national poverty, as shown in the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) results released in June 2025.

Poverty has fallen 16.4 percentage points (a 75% drop) in Kiribati, from 21.9% in 2019-20 to 5.5% in 2023-24, the largest reduction on record.

Similar to other low-lying atoll countries, Kiribati primarily faces the slow-onset effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and prolonged droughts.

“Through our social protection programs, which has recorded all the relevant beneficiaries, we are uniquely placed and prepared to respond to climate shocks.

“The SFU covers over 40% of the population and over 90% of the population live in a household where someone receives the SFU payment, creating an opportunity for adaptive social protection.”

Adaptive social protection involves governments using their existing social protection systems to help populations better prepare for, cope with, and adapt to shocks. It also helps limit negative coping mechanisms and supports faster recovery.

The minister said the system could be used for cash top-up payments following a climate shock or to target the most vulnerable communities and individuals affected by climate change.

A key focus is on “strengthening the social protection system” by digitising systems, designing a social protection information system, developing disaster-risk policies and strategies, exploring climate finance opportunities, and learning from other Pacific island nations.

She thanked Australia for the support provided by P4SP since 2022.

“What has gone from a bit of a jump without looking has actually become a very well-structured program that is able to support remote communities and people all over the nation.”

Tonga: Cash transfers help families after volcano eruption

In Tonga, the January 2022 underwater volcano eruption and tsunami affected 84 percent of the population, including 36,500 children.

Eight months later, in October 2022, many families were still recovering.

Seruwaia Cagilaba, Social Policy Specialist at UNICEF Pacific, explained how UNICEF partnered with the Tongan Ministry of Internal Affairs to implement child-focused, shock-responsive social protection.

Between 2022 and 2024, UNICEF provided USD 1 million for humanitarian cash transfers to around 3,000 beneficiaries, including children and children with disabilities.

“There was vertical expansion, whereby we provided an additional 200 Tongan Pa’anga [AUD 126] to the existing disability benefits scheme for children," said Ms Cagilaba.

“We also did a horizontal expansion to extend support to households with children not on any existing social protection scheme but also affected by the 2022 natural disaster.”

The experience highlighted several opportunities to improve the system for future use.

“Existing MIS systems need to be strengthened to enable the quick identification of households requiring humanitarian assistance following a natural disaster,” she said.

She suggested enhancing payment systems and infrastructure to ensure the timely delivery of cash support, and improving the grievance redress mechanism so beneficiaries in outer and remote islands can provide timely feedback to government.

Testing digital payments in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea

In Vanuatu, a country highly vulnerable to climate risks, Save the Children led a pilot project to test digital payments.

Over 18 months (June 2023 to December 2024), the NGO partnered locally to deliver digital payments to 215 children with disabilities (ages 0–18).

Pilot participants were registered on the Digicel MyCash app, enabling them to receive payments in a digital wallet.

Kalua Salerua, Deputy Programs Director at Save the Children Vanuatu, outlined the benefits of digital payments.

“The app enables the swift and secure payments from government agencies and NGOs,” said Mr Salerua.

“It lessens reliance on physical cash and traditional banking, which may be inaccessible or unsafe during emergencies, but transactions are quick and can be completed from home.”

The pilot results will be shared with the government to demonstrate how vulnerable people can receive cash in a crisis.

Save the Children has undertaken similar pilot projects on digital cash payments in Papua New Guinea.

“Pilot testing gives us an opportunity to test different delivery mechanisms [for cash] as part of our preparedness,” explained Nashrudin Modin, Senior Cash and Livelihoods Advisor, Save the Children.

“We started in 2021, so we provided cash assistance during COVID 19. We also provided cash assistance in a drought response in Lae, and recently in a flood response where we used micro finance or Maybank as a partner to deliver cash assistance.”

“Cash readiness is a tool we can share with the government for them to adapt in their programs, particularly for social protection,” he said.

Social protection systems that can adapt: Principles, challenges and opportunities

The key to ensuring routine social protection systems can be used to support emergency responses is ensuring they are robust and well-run, while covering a significant portion of the population.

“It’s important to strengthen the existing system and have the policies and procedures in place to quickly and efficiently transfer assistance if needed,” said Aisha Mansur, Senior Social Protection Specialist, P4SP.

Other critical factors include a strong beneficiary data management system, stress-testing systems before a shock, clear institutional arrangements and partnerships, and reliable and flexible finance.

“With a good institutional arrangement and partnerships in place it promotes agility, coherence and effectiveness in responding to shocks,” explained Nitesh Chand, Programme Policy Officer–Social Protection, WFP.

Therese Curran, Social Protection Unit Director in Kiribati, said the greatest opportunity lies in building on the progress already made.

“It’s making sure we have strong social protection systems and being able to use them to prepare for or respond to a disaster.”

Pacific countries still face challenges such as dispersed populations, paper-based processes, and limited data infrastructure.

The session highlighted several opportunities, such as strengthening data systems, using digital tools and platforms, involving communities in program design, and embedding social protection as a mechanism for supporting humanitarian response into national disaster risk management frameworks.

“There are opportunities but also challenges that need to be further worked on,” said the moderator Teea Tira, Programme Adviser–Resilient Development Finance, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, at the session’s close.

“The examples [shared] show how everyone is coming together to really help support those that need these programs.”

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The virtual learning episode was part of an ongoing series by the Pacific Resilience Partnership technical working group on disaster risk financing.

Episode #10 was the second learning episode in a three-part series on sharing learnings around the link between disaster financing and adaptive social protection.

Learn more about the first learning episode (6 November 2024): Adaptive social protection: A key to disaster risk financing.