This study contributes to the development of integrated and multi-sectoral methodologies to measure and address climate change impact, looking particularly at the way in which climate change intersects with social vulnerability. Climate change is often described as a threat multiplier (UNDP, 2020), amplifying other risks and vulnerabilities, including social vulnerability.

The connection between climate change and social vulnerability remains under-researched. Research on climate change impact currently lacks a clear understanding of how its risks intersect with pre-existing vulnerabilities in societies and communities (De Sherbinin et al., 2019; Gerlak and Greene, 2019; Jagarnath et al., 2020). In the Arab region, there is a lack of evidence on the complex relationship between climate change and social vulnerability (Arab Water Council, 2021b). Pre-existing social vulnerabilities may include poverty, unemployment, lack of access to public services, education, and structural inequalities based on ethnicity, migration status, gender, disability and health. All of these factors may impact a community’s exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to climate change-related risks. In the Arab region, there is a need for methodologies that help capture and unveil the multi-sectoral indicators of climate change to generate a regional understanding of climate change as compound risk (AWC, 2021b).