London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The first Symposium of its kind to address the links between population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health and rights and climate change, is being hosted on Monday 1 March by the BMA, the UK-based Population and Sustainability Network, the Commonwealth Medical Association Trust and the Africa office of Partners in Population and Development.

With the need to take forward the Copenhagen agenda and to mark the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Development Goals later this year, this important event brings together policy-makers from Africa, including four government ministers from sub-Saharan Africa, and UK to discuss the links between securing sexual and reproductive health and rights for all, tackle the challenges presented by climate change, and generate consensus on the critical actions needed to address them effectively.

Population dynamics, such as urbanization, migration, etc have a clear impact on climate change, particularly climate change adaptation. The world's population is projected to reach 7 billion early in 2012, up from the current 6.8 billion, and surpass 9 billion people by 2050. Thirty seven out of forty National Adaptation Programmes of Action mention population growth as a factor confounding developing country efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change.

The Symposium from 9.30 to 5pm at the British Medical Association will consist of technical and political sessions which will give parliamentarians, academics, civil society organizations and climate change and sexual and reproductive health and rights activists an opportunity to generate consensus on the important links between population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health and rights and climate change.

The day starts with a Keynote panel on what are the links between population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health and rights and climate change in a post-Copenhagen world, and why are they important, includes Jonathon Porritt, Professor Anthony Costello (UCL), Dr Paul Wilkinson (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and Dr Vivienne Nathanson (BMA).

Late morning the floor is given to papers devoted to practical matters on local adaptations and "what works on the ground" given by Dr Jotham Musinguzi (Regional Director, Partners in Population and Development, Africa Regional Office), Siri Tellier (UNFPA), Karen Hardee (Population Action International), Negash Teklu (Ethiopia) and Dr Vic Mohan (Madagascar).

The early afternoon session "Political Options for Progress" is chaired by John Vidal, Environment Editor of The Guardian, addressing Ministers from Africa including four government ministers from Africa:

Hon Prof Peter Anyang Nyong'o, Minister of Medical Services, Kenya
Hon Prof. David Mwakyusa, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Tanzania
Hon Prof. Moses Chirambo, Minister of Health, Malawi
Hon Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, Minister of State for Finance/Planning, Uganda

They will be asked to give advice and respond to questions on the issues related to climate change, population dynamics and reproductive health and rights from the perspectives of their own countries. UK MPs from the major UK political parties, including Andrew Mitchell, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, will respond and outline their policies on population dynamics and climate change.

The conclusions and wrap-up session includes as speakers Gill Greer (Director-General, IPPF), Karen Newman of the Population and Sustainability Network, Dr Jotham Musinguzi, Professor Malcolm Potts of University of California, Berkeley and Dr Susannah Mayhew, Senior Lecturer, LSHTM reviewing the key priorities for linking population dynamics to climate change.

What are likely to be among the key messages emerging from the symposium?

Currently available information suggests that the key points are likely to include:

• A call for population dynamics, and sexual and reproductive health and rights to be recognized as having an important contribution to make to climate change mitigation, and, importantly, adaptation programmes.
• There is consensus on the need to accelerate efforts to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights by 2015 - an international target that was set in 1994 and subsequently recognized within the Millennium Development Goals framework.
• Increased investment in voluntary family planning programmes that respect and protect rights should be seen as part of national efforts in the South to adapt to the effects of climate change.

For interviews, copies of full papers or other queries contact Karen Newman, Population and Sustainability Network Coordinator on 020 7727 0248 or email: kn@populationandsustainability.org or visit: 

www.populationandsustainability.org 

www.climatechangesymposium.org

Additional information

Five most frequently mentioned factors that will be made worse by population growth and climate change

• Population pressure on fresh water availability
• Shortage of land per capita/over grazing
• Deforestation
• Population affecting soil degradation/erosion - implications for agriculture
• High population density/migration to coastal areas, thereby increasing vulnerability

Priorities for Action

• More research is needed to clarify the relationship between population growth and climate change. Increasing access to voluntary family planning services can play a role in both mitigation and adaptation strategies, and would respond to needs identified by developing countries themselves. According to the UN:

- The least developed countries are lagging behind in the transition to low fertility and have rapidly growing populations

- Lack of access to family planning and, in particular, to modern methods of contraception is a major cause of the persistence of high fertility as indicated by the high levels of unmet need for family planning prevalent in least developed countries

- Investments in family planning are cost effective because of the strong synergistic effects of longer inter-birth intervals and lower fertility with other development goals. For every dollar spent in family planning, between 2 and 6 dollars can be saved in interventions aimed at achieving other development goals

- International co-operation will be vital in reducing carbon emission, and devising mitigation and adaptation strategies that will help the world's population to adapt to climate change