Climate and Population: New Case Study Shows Climate Change Adaptation and Family Planning Challenges in Ethiopia

Southern Voices Critical to Copenhagen Success

(Washington, D.C.) Climate change is hitting the world’s poorest countries, the people least able to cope, according to a new case study on Ethiopia from Population Action International (PAI). PAI and Miz-Hasab Research Center in Ethiopia, in collaboration with the Joint Global Change Research Institute, studied which groups are most vulnerable, what community members say they need to adapt, and the role of family planning and reproductive health in increasing resilience to climate change impacts.

“Leaders in Copenhagen must integrate family planning into global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said Dr. Karen Hardee, Vice President for Research at PAI and report author. “The Ethiopia example shows that we must fulfill the global demand for contraception to improve the lives of women and communities.”

Ethiopia is expected to more than double its population by 2050.  The report highlights how rapid increase in the population is likely to exacerbate the effects of climate change. In this study, Linking Population, Fertility and Family Planning with Adaptation to Climate Change: Views from Ethiopia, women and men from two areas of Ethiopia speak about the increasing challenges they face in adapting to climate change. They recount how rising temperatures, more frequent droughts, increased flooding, receding grazing land and diminishing forests are making it more difficult for their families and communities to cope.

“Nothing seems... like in the past. On the contrary, the problems are getting worse,” stated an interviewee in Oromia, Ethiopia. “The temperature, shortage of food and rainfall situation is worsening.” Another participant commented that “...if a family has limited children, it will have enough land for its kids and hence we can protect the forests... Limiting the number of children will help us to cope with the change in climate.”

PAI will be in Copenhagen for the week of December 12-18th with Negash Teklu, Executive Director of Ethiopia's Consortium for Integration of Population, Health, and Environment, along with the Population and Climate Change Alliance (PCCA). PAI and the PCCA will be holding a side event and staffing a booth at the conference. Experts will be available to meet with reporters both here in the U.S. and in Copenhagen.

“We’re helping to fulfill the needs of women while addressing climate change. In contrast, so much of the dialogue leading up to Copenhagen focuses on taking away people's rights to use energy or consume natural resources,” commented Kathleen Mogelgaard, Senior Program Manager for Population and Climate Change at PAI. “Satisfying demand for contraceptives on the ground helps individuals and families better cope with the effects of climate change.”

PAI released a report in May 2009 on how recent population trends matter to climate change. For more resources linking population and climate change, visit PAI’s Copenhagen Web site.

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For more information or to contact PAI spokespeople:

In DC:
Michael Khoo, VP for Communications, (202) 669-7911, mkhoo@popact.org

In Copenhagen:
Kathleen Mogelgaard, Sr. Program Manager for Population and Climate, (202) 415-5287, kmogelgaard@popact.org

Population Action International uses research and advocacy to improve access to family planning and reproductive health care across the world so women and families can prosper and live in balance with the earth. By ensuring couples are able to determine the size of their families, poverty and the depletion of natural resources are reduced, improving the lives of millions across the world.