A tall order. South European welfare states’ readiness for climate-adjusted social policy

Abstract

Whether South European welfare states can accommodate the socio-economic challenges generated by the climate crisis has so far not been systematically addressed. Seeking to fill the gap, and focusing on the extreme cases Greece and Portugal, we assess their exposure, sensitivity and capacity to respond to eco-social risks, and how eco-social considerations are incorporated in political discourse and strategic planning. The analysis reveals a common pattern of rapidly intensifying climate-induced impacts meeting acute social vulnerabilities linked to inadequate safety nets and sluggish response to changing social risks. Political discourse is only slowly coming to terms with the emerging challenges, on the heels of the EU’s green agenda, while ongoing fiscal constraints hamper the capacity to adapt. Still, we found a higher policy readiness to tackle eco-social challenges in Portugal relative to Greece, due to different political and institutional legacies and partisan programmatic orientation in the last decade.