Social protection policies are necessary to protect lower-income groups against the threats of climate hazards. Adaptation policies, such as those entailing the adoption of new crops or improved irrigation systems in agriculture, are critical to preventing a deterioration of livelihoods as a result of climate hazards. To be successful, however, these highly specific policy responses must be part of a broader development framework which leads the way incrementally to the empowerment of today’s disadvantaged groups by improving their asset positions and access to input and product markets, by extending their access to quality basic services such as health, education and sanitation, and by changing the norms fostering their social and political exclusion.