Just transition in Southeast Asia: Exploring the links between social protection and environmental policies

The link between social protection and the environment is expected to become a growing policy intervention area in Southeast Asia. Based on a systematic review of the academic and institutional literature, this article proposes identifying the different possible visions of the link between social protection and environmental issues and their operationalization. By clustering the papers based on a reading grid proposed by the authors, the research shows this literature for the Mekong area is not very developed to date and most of the selected papers’ approach seem only to leave room for disaster response and assistance. The article also raises the question of the perimeter and very definition of social protection in these changing contexts and shows it is becoming necessary to build multilevel common socio-ecological systems.