Climate Change XX: Women’s Health in Focus
Challenge Overview
The countries most at risk of climate change are also those where women and girls face the greatest dangers. “Without urgent action, climate change will set back the clock on gender equality,” says Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director. “UNFPA is pleased to support young female researchers studying the impacts of climate on women’s health. This is important to ensure that both the priorities of women and girls are reflected in climate strategies in the most vulnerable countries and that women are better represented in climate-related decision-making.”
In this context, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with academic partners, is launching the Research Challenge: Climate Change XX: Women’s Health in Focus. This Challenge will support young and female researchers who are addressing the impact of climate change on women and girls’ health - with special attention to the topic of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender equity and inclusion in the design of climate solutions.
According to a 2023 UNFPA study on 14 of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, the issues that stand out include high maternal mortality, child marriage, adolescent birth rates, and gender-based violence. Climate-driven disasters are displacing them from their homes, and putting family planning clinics, maternal healthcare, and safe spaces out of reach. In the last decade, more evidence has emerged on the direct and indirect effects that climate has on maternal health, including anemia, eclampsia, low birth weight, preterm birth, and miscarriage, as well as on broader aspects of women's health. The health of women and girls in all their diversity reflects the stability and robustness of a community’s resilience to potential health disruptions. The evidence linking global warming with adverse outcomes is mounting and is cause for alarm.
While climate change will affect all populations, it is critical to remember that women, newborns, and children are disproportionately impacted. Climate-related emergencies, like many humanitarian crises, interrupt public access to health services and life-saving commodity supply chains, including contraceptives, emergency contraception, treatments for the prevention and transmission of HIV, and access to safe abortion services.
Despite the growing evidence of climate threats to health, a recent review of Nationally Determined Contributions found that few countries are addressing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) needs in their national climate policies, calling for more national-level research.
As the climate crisis worsens and funding for climate initiatives falls short of safeguarding sexual and reproductive health (SRH), the situation of women and girls will only deteriorate further.
At COP28, UNFPA has called upon leaders to take action to:
- Significantly increase climate financing to build climate-resilient health systems that address the needs of women and girls.
- Promote sexual and reproductive health and rights and women’s empowerment as integral to climate resilience by ensuring that essential health services are protected during climate-induced disruptions.
- Ensure that women are represented in climate decision-making.
- Improve national-level evidence on the impact of climate change to strengthen prevention, emergency, and recovery efforts, with a focus on how climate impacts women’s sexual reproductive health and rights.
