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Moving Forward on Climate Change Through Gender Equality
New Working Paper Shows Relationship Between Population Trends and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Untitled Document
WASHINGTON, May 1 – Climate change and population dynamics are intricately linked, according to a new working paper by Population Action International (PAI). How Do Recent Population Trends Matter To Climate Change? says that population dynamics, including fertility, population growth, the distribution of people in rural and urban areas, aging and household size and composition, are a major force in the increase in greenhouse gases that cause climate change. As a result, these dynamics will play a key role in attempts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
“PAI’s analysis shows the deep link between population dynamics and climate change,” said Amy Coen, President and CEO of Population Action International. “It is time for policymakers to realize that family planning and investments in women and youth are solutions to the climate crisis.”
How Do Recent Population Trends Matter To Climate Change? makes several recommendations that underline the important role investing in women and youth play in promoting a sustainable environment. Recommendations include: investing in family planning and reproductive health services and programs that promote universal access to voluntary contraception; empowering women and youth through education and renewing commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All of these recommendations would help countries achieve gender equality and develop economically, while providing greater capacity to address climate change.
The working paper explains the historic relationship between population growth and greenhouse gas emissions; weaknesses in previous population projection models and anticipated population trends; the demographic trends that exacerbate vulnerability, particularly for people in developing countries; and recommendations for family planning and reproductive health care programs that can help solve the problem.
Dr. Leiwen Jiang, PAI’s Chief Demographer and one of the author’s of the paper said, explained why the contribution of population to climate change has been previously underestimated. “Previous climate models significantly underestimated the contribution of population to climate change, because they only include population size as the demographic variable,” he said.
Dr. Karen Hardee, Vice-President for Research at PAI and author of the working paper highlighted why it is important to understand various demographic trends: “Understanding these relationships is critical for the world to adapt to climate change.”
How Do Recent Population Trends Matter To Climate Change? is the first in a three-part series that aims to “deepen understanding of the relationships between population and climate change.” The next two papers will be released in June and July and will focus on how population projections are used in developing climate models and will explain the assumptions behind these projections.
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