Facing a Changing World: Women, Population and Climate

Statement by Thoraya Ahmed Obaid
Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund
The State of World Population 2009 Report

This report calls attention to women and vulnerable populations in the response to climate disruption. It points out that climate change is not just about technology. It is a human problem brought about by human activity. People are affected by climate change. People need to adapt to it. And only people can stop it.

During the past half century, rapid population growth and industrialization have led to a rapid rise in greenhouse gas emissions. We have now reached a point where humanity is approaching the brink of disaster. The damage done to the environment by modern society is one of the most inequitable risks of our time. Right now, the carbon footprint of the poorest billion people on Earth is a mere 3% of the world’s total carbon footprint. And it is the poor who will bear the disproportionate brunt of our changing climate.

For many people, especially poor women in poor countries, climate change is here and now. Women work hard to keep their households together. They fetch the water, find the food and the fuel to cook it, and clean up afterwards. They watch their children’s health and care for their illnesses. In recent years, both food and fuel have been harder to find. The available water carries parasites. Malaria is creeping into areas that used to be mosquito-free. And floods, rising seas and droughts present growing challenges.

Poor women in poor countries are among the hardest hit by climate change even though they contributed the least to it. Poor women don’t take airplanes. They don’t drive cars. As often as not, they can’t find a vehicle to get them to hospital if they have a difficult labour. In fact, they get very little support for all they do.

This must change. As this report points out, support for women grappling with climate change means empowering them to make their own decisions and be involved in public decisions that affect their lives. Yes, countries need to invest in green technology and reduce emissions immediately.

This "State of World Population" report points out that countries also need to invest in women—in ensuring alternatives to local wood and imported fuel, in secure clean water supplies, in better roads and mobile phones. Girls need education and health care. Women need attention to their own health, including their reproductive health. There are about 200 million women today who would like to space or prevent pregnancies, and who have no access to reliable and modern contraception.

The report shows that investments that empower women and girls—particularly investments in education and health—bolster economic development and reduce poverty and have a beneficial impact on climate. Girls with more education, for example, tend to have smaller and healthier families as adults. Women with access to reproductive health services, including family planning, have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower growth in greenhouse-gas emissions in the long run.

This report argues that we cannot successfully confront climate change if we neglect the needs, rights and potential of half the people on our planet. The report calls attention to populations that are vulnerable because they live in low-lying coastal areas and the potential impact of climate change on urbanization and migration. It points to the need for governments to plan ahead. Governments need to reduce risk and better prepare and manage climate disasters and the displacement of people.

Overall, climate change is not just an issue of energy or the environment; it is also a moral issue of justice and equity. All nations and people have the right to development. And all countries are challenged to develop in ways that are socially equitable and environmentally sound.

Women should be part of any agreement on climate change—not as an afterthought or because it’s politically correct, but because it’s the right thing to do. Our future as humanity depends on unleashing the full potential of all human beings, and the full capacity of women, to bring about change.

With the possibility of a climate catastrophe on the horizon, we cannot afford to relegate the world’s 3.4 billion women and girls to the role of victim. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have 3.4 billion agents for change?

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programs to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. The entire report can be found at http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2009/