climate change

Much of the commentary that does exist on the relevance of population trends to climate change concerns the effect of rapid population growth on climate change particularly in terms of increased greenhouse gas emissions. As a result there have been calls for voluntary access to family planning to be included within climate change strategies.

There are hundreds of millions of people around the world who cannot exercise their basic human right to decide when and how many children they have in their lifetime because they have no access to, or no information on family planning. They want to control their fertility but cannot.

Providing these communities with meaningful family planning, contraceptive choices and quality sexual healthcare would undoubtedly have an impact upon population growth simply by ensuring their basic and unrestricted right to reproductive freedom and choice. What has received comparatively very little attention is the impact that spiraling population growth will have on how those populations are able to respond and adapt to climate change. Moreover, the perspective of the world’s least developed countries, which are likely to be most affected by climate change, is focused on how they will cope with the drastic effects that climate change is likely to have on them.

A Marie Stopes International analysis* of the strategy documents submitted by 40 of the world’s least developed countries to the Global Environmental Facility, found that 93% identified concern about the impact of rapid population growth upon their ability to adapt to climate change. Whilst debates around responsibilities towards a climate change solution involving a reduction of carbon emissions will and should always be present, a shift in thinking about how we can support communities and specifically, how family planning might support communities, in adapting to climate change, is both necessary and significant.

Marie Stopes therefore advocates for increased support for rights-based family planning services as an important complementary measure to climate change adaptation programs in developing countries. Family planning can dramatically influence individuals’ and communities’ ability to adapt to the consequences of climate change.