Ecologically sustainable social policy as a challenge for the 21st century. The perspective of climate change consequences in Poland

The central objective of the article is to determine the basic links between social and environmental policies in the context of sustainable development and to evaluate the challenges of environmental issues for particular social policy sectors. The primary research method applied in the following article was a systematic review of the available literature on the subject, thematic reports, statistical data and legal acts. The main areas of concern analysed are the identification of the most significant challenges facing social policy in the 21st century in the context of environmental protection and of the most significant effects of climate change and other environmental threats on sectoral social policies (population and family policy, education policy, labour market policy, social security policy, health care and housing policy), along with the directions of necessary changes. Currently, environmental issues are still greatly neglected in social policy debates. The article presented here is a comprehensive attempt to assess the environmental and climate challenges for social policy. Moreover, it points out the necessary directions for change.