The UN System supports countries to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework on the social dimensions of climate change, advocate a multidimensional approach to climate change policies and develop climate-related measures to ensure better living conditions.
For that purpose, methods and tools have been developed to assess climate change risks on human societies and identify social vulnerabilities and adaptation capacities. The following table shows a list of tools and best practices elaborated by the UN System addressing gender, health, food security, migration, population dynamics, housing and employment in a changing climate.
Although these tools and best practices are comprehensive as a whole and provide assessment guidelines crossing sectors and levels, they do not provide a full picture of the social impacts of climate change as each of these tools focus merely on one social aspect. An integrated tool considering all relevant social aspects and cross-sectoral synergies will facilitate the assessment process, provide a better understanding of social risks and vulnerabilities and support the development of more adequate preparedness and response mechanisms to improve livelihoods, health and human wellbeing.
