POPULATION GROWTH AND CLIMATE VULNERABILITY ARE LINKED, AND SO ARE EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS, NEW NGO REPORT FINDS

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, on the eve of World Population Day, the Washington, DC-based NGO Population Institute published a report on "Population and Climate Vulnerability" demonstrating important connections between population growth and society's ability to manage climate change impacts.

Climate vulnerability is a measure of how climate change will affect people and ecosystems.  World Population Day is an annual UN observance highlighting the importance and urgency of population issues.

The new report finds that in the 80 most climate-vulnerable countries, population is growing on average at twice the global rate. The combination of severe climate impacts and faster growth strains governments' ability to provide basic services for climate adaptation and resilience, \ further aggravating climate impacts and vulnerability.

In many of the most climate-vulnerable countries, rapid population growth is linked to gender inequality, including lack of access to family planning and reproductive health services. The most climate-vulnerable countries suffer some of the worst gender inequality, undermining their  capacity for adaptation and resilience in the short-term, and fueling population growth and climate vulnerability in the long term.

The pattern is also reflected in the U.S., which has disproportionately faster population growth in places more exposed to worse climate impacts, including Florida and Texas.  Women in the U.S. are at higher risk of gender-based violence after natural disasters, and experience more severe consequences for their health and employment from climate impacts. 

In the U.S. and globally, governments and donors are failing to make sufficient investments in reproductive health and rights that could bridge unmet needs and strengthen resilience and adaptation.  But this also presents an opportunity, the report finds.

"How population trends affect our ability to contend with the climate crisis is an area that tends to get overlooked," said Kathleen Mogelgaard, president and CEO of the Population Institute. "But our report showcases examples of innovative, impactful, multisectoral efforts that model how the linked challenges of climate change vulnerability, gender equity, and reproductive health and rights can be addressed together."

The report profiles innovative CSO and policy initiatives in Guatemala, Niger, the Philippines, Uganda, and the US that do this by centering local groups, women, and youth on the front lines of climate impacts.  It argues their approaches should be replicated and scaled up.

Contact: Stephen Kent, [email protected], +1-914-589-5988

SOURCE NGO Population Institute