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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
Climate adaptation is essential for all people and is
especially urgent for women and girls in low- and
middle-income countries (LMICs). Of many viable
climate adaptation strategies, two well-proven,
directly beneficial climate adaptation strategies are
girls’ education and family planning.i Use of modern
contraceptive methods and educational attainment—
particularly at the secondary level—both aect women’s
fertility and health.1 Girls’ education and family planning
address underlying drivers of gender inequality
exacerbated by climate change and are critical for
climate adaptation and boosting resilience.ii, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Low levels of girls’ education mean women continue
to face economic marginalization and social inequality,
putting them at heightened risk of gender-based
violence, labor exploitation, and suering under
conditions of climate-related shocks and extreme
i We recognize that comprehensive reproductive health for all—adolescents and adults—is essential and a human right. In this brief we focus on
one important component of reproductive health, modern voluntary family planning [contraception] for women and girls.
ii Resilience is used here as the ability of an individual, household, community, and system to cope with, recover from, and expand their capacity
to adapt to shocks and stressors, which can be environmental or human-driven.
weather events. Higher levels of bodily autonomy and
reproductive choice through family planning usage
mean women have more control over their own lives,
making space for personal decisions aligned with their
specific needs.
This brief highlights the evidence around
incorporating girls’ education and family planning
in climate adaptation and resilience. Decisionmakers
must recognize these pillars of development as eective
long-term climate adaptation strategies in National
Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and key components of climate
policies and forums through UNFCCC processes, such
as the Gender Action Plan. Including and funding girls’
education and family planning in country-level holistic
climate adaptation approaches will boost the ability of
vulnerable populations to adapt to climate change.
Girls’ education and family planning:
essential components of climate adaptation and resilience
Policy Brief
By Kristen P. Patterson, Yusuf Jameel, Mamta Mehra, and Carissa Patrone OCTOBER 2021
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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
Girls’ education and family planning:
complementary strategies that
address women and girls’ distinct
vulnerabilities
Compared with men, women and girls in LMICs
experience higher social, economic, and health
impacts of climate change.5, 8, 9, 10 Women’s mortality
rates are higher during climate-related hazards, and
climate events exacerbate existing gender disparities
around reproductive health and rights, education,
early marriage, gender-based violence, and
socioeconomic status.2, 11, 12, 13 Climate-exacerbated
natural disasters could push an additional 120 million
people into poverty by 2030;14 200 million adolescent
girls from LMICs face heightened risks to climate
impacts.7 These realities increase the risk of early
marriage as households try to manage financial burdens
with limited resources.15 These circumstances can lead
to early pregnancy and girls terminating school-based
education, leading to a vicious cycle of intergenerational
poverty and vulnerability.16
Access to contraception can reduce these risks and
lead to higher educational attainment for girls and
women as they are able to delay and plan pregnancy,
which is recognized as vital to building climate
iii Demand satisfied is the percentage of women of reproductive age (15–49 years) who desire to have either no (additional) children or to
postpone the next child—and are currently using a modern method of contraception. The indicator is also referred to as the demand for family
planning satisfied with modern methods.
iv Project Drawdown has identified 80+ solutions to climate change, most of which focus on Reducing Sources (bringing emissions to zero) and
Supporting Sinks (uplifting nature’s carbon cycle). One solution, Health and Education, focuses on fostering health and education equity for all.
Every solution demands urgent action to address the climate crisis.
adaptation capacity at the household and community
level.2 Contraception enables adolescents to remain
in school and education enables sustained lifelong
benefits—research has shown that mothers’ schooling
(versus that of fathers) has a deeper positive impact
on children.1, 17, 18, 19 Secondary education is associated
with reduced adolescent fertility in low-income
countries, with concomitant reductions in mortality
and HIV prevalence.20
Nineteen out of the top 20 countries with the highest
total fertility rate are in sub-Saharan Africa, a region
highly vulnerable to climate change.21, 22, 23 Several of the
same countries also have very low female literacy rates24
and low demand satisfiediii, 25 (See figure 1 below). Girls’
education and women-centered, rights-based access to
family planning could play an important role in climate
adaptation and boosting resilience across the region.
Investing in girls’ education and family planning
generates myriad immediate and sustained benefits
for girls, women, their families, and communities, and
makes a significant contribution to achieving nearly all
the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).4, 20, 26, 27,
28, 29, 30 Incorporating girls’ education and family planning
in an interconnected system of complementary climate
solutionsiv can foster a strong foundation of climate
adaptation and resilience.31, 32
CHAD (4)
COUNTRY
(Vulnerability Rank) TOTAL FERTILITY RATE DEMAND SATISFIED FEMALE LITERACY RATE
NIGER (1)
UGANDA (10)
BIRTHS/WOMAN PERCENT PERCENT
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO (8)
0 2 4 6 8 010 20 30 40 6050 70 020 40 60 10060
GLOBAL AVERAGE
GLOBAL AVERAGE
Figure 1 – Fertility, demand satisfied, and female literacy rate for select countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The vulnerability rank of each country is included in parentheses (1 being the most vulnerable).
Source: total fertility rate, World Bank, 2019; demand satisfied, Population Reference Bureau, 2021;
female literacy rate, World Bank (Niger and Uganda, 2018; Chad and Democratic Republic of Congo, 2016).
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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
Girls’ education contributes to climate
adaptation and boosts women’s resilience
Education, particularly for girls, provides benefits that reverberate throughout
one’s lifespan. While the relationship between education and fertility outcomes
is complex,33 the relation between length of mothers’ schooling and child
survival is linear, with no threshold.17, 20, 26 The longer girls stay in school, on
average, the longer they delay transitions to adulthood, including childbearing.2
Multiple factors—like quality, empowerment, and decision-making autonomy—
influence the relationship between an education intervention and fertility
decisions made at the individual level.
Three-quarters of children who never enter primary school are girls, and in at
least 20 countries, very few poor, rural adolescent girls finish secondary school.16
Gendered responsibilities—which often increase during climate shocks and
stressors—including household chores (e.g., fetching water and fuel, cooking,
and sibling care) impact girls’ ability to remain in school; the increasing frequency
of such events elevates the fact that keeping girls in school is both a short- and
long-term adaptation strategy.7 In rural Zimbabwe, a climate-induced drought
in 2016 led to gaps in schooling, with exacerbated impacts on girls who were
expected to assist with household needs.34
BOX 1
GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND INCREASING WOMEN’S FARMING PARTICIPATION
IMPROVES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY
Paired with girls’ education, increasing women farmers’ participation in capacity-building programs (and
access to finance and resources) can improve agriculture productivity while enhancing resilience in the
face of climate change.35 Women farmers make up around 40% of agricultural labor in LMICs.36, 37 However,
due to unequal access to resources, technical knowledge, opportunities to explore new techniques, and
agency in household decisions, women’s agriculture yield is consistently lower than men’s.38, 39, 40 An analysis
in five sub-Saharan African countries reveals that closing the gender gap around access to education and
land tenure could increase crop production by 19%, boost gross domestic product, and lift thousands out of
poverty,41 thereby empowering communities and countries to better manage climate-related natural hazards.
As climate shocks grow more frequent and intense, women’s strong Indigenous knowledge base needs to
be augmented with more modern information.42
• In Ghana, where men were found to be more responsive to using a climate information system (CIS),
increased access to information and communication technology education for women could increase the
uptake of CIS by women.43
• In Ethiopia, for each year of additional education, the probability of adopting more than two sustainable
agriculture practices increased by 12 percent.44
• In Niger, better educated and empowered households are more likely to implement soil and water-
retention techniques that lead to improved agricultural yields.45
Moreover, climate-smart agriculture and other regenerative agricultural practices are improving the
productivity of women-led farms and building the adaptive capacities of women farmers.46, 47 This evidence
makes a compelling case for greater financial support towards girls’ education for creating more resilient
farming systems.
Education,
particularly for girls,
provides benefits
that reverberate
throughout one’s
lifespan.
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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
Climate-informed education is one way to learn green life and low-carbon
economy job skills—an avenue to addressing social inequities, gender
imbalances, and climate change at once.48, 49 Educated women are better
equipped to protect themselves and their families from environmental shocks
and stressors like floods and droughts, and participate in decision-making
at local, national, and global levels.5, 7, 30, 50 Better educated families and
communities show reduced vulnerability, taking disaster preparedness steps
like stockpiling emergency supplies; after a disaster, they tend to be better
equipped to cope and bounce back from physiological and economic impacts
of natural hazards.2
Lack of education diminishes women and girls’ resilience to climate change
hazards, and increases mortality risks.8, 51, 52 In semi-arid parts of India, women’s
heightened vulnerability is primarily due to less access to education and
information, compounded by insecure land rights, poverty, and gender
inequality.53 In Nepal, communities with higher proportions of women with
education suered lower mortality from floods and landslides.50 Analysis
of 125 countries shows that education (particularly female education) is the
single most important socioeconomic factor associated with a reduction in
vulnerability to natural disasters.51
Family planning supports climate adaptation and
contributes to resilient households
Rights-based reproductive health, including modern voluntary family planning
for adolescents and women, generates co-benefits for maternal and child
health, nutrition, economic development, climate adaptation, gender equality,
resilience, and planetary health.3, 28, 54, 55, 56 The ability to plan and space
births yields numerous benefits for mothers and children, notably decreased
morbidity and mortality.28, 57, 58 The improved health that results from the ability
to plan and space births, along with access to quality health care, contributes
to long-term adaptive capacity by better equipping people to withstand and
survive environmental shocks and stressors.59, 60, 61
Compared with those born after an interval of four years, children born after
a two-year interval (or less) are 23% more likely to be underweight and 27%
more likely to be stunted, which aects educational capacity and lifelong
productivity;57 healthy children grow to be healthy adults who are more capable
of dealing with climate change.
With better health and the ability to avoid unplanned pregnancies and
lower their childcare burden, women have more time and energy for other
opportunities—taking part in the labor force or building businesses—as well as
learning about and implementing ways to reduce their risks from environmental
and climate-driven shocks and stressors.3, 55, 62, 63 Women who use or have
better access to modern voluntary family planning are also more likely to
participate in household decision-making, particularly around nutrition and
food security.4, 64 Improved reproductive health due to contraceptive uptake
and girls’ educational attainment, particularly at the secondary level, are closely
linked.1, 19 An educated woman is better able to translate her fertility preferences
Analysis of 125
countries shows
that education
(particularly
female education)
is the single
most important
socioeconomic
factor associated
with a reduction
in vulnerability to
natural disasters.
Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/
Images of Empowerment
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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
into practice with the use of contraception.1 Similarly, a healthy woman who
can plan and attain her desired family size can better take care of her children
and ensure they get the proper nutrition they need.65 At a national level,
meeting demand for family planning with voluntary, rights-based programming
means women are able to realize their desired family size, better enabling
governments to keep pace with social sector needs—like the vital building and
stang of health clinics and schools as well as stang extension agents for
agriculture, fisheries, and forests to meet the needs of rural populations.
Several examples show how family planning boosts resilience. In Madagascar,
community resilience after a cyclone demonstrates that holistic community-
based reproductive health, livelihoods, and natural resource management
programs can strengthen communities’ abilities to respond to natural disasters.66
Family planning and use of maternal and child health facilities is positively
associated with enhancing household and community-level resilience in
Tanzania.55 In Bangladesh, women with access to contraception have fewer
children and higher household incomes than those without;67 ensuing decreased
vulnerability allows them to rebound more quickly from climate impacts.62
Recognize, include, and fund girls’ education and
family planning in climate adaptation national
strategies and UNFCCC processes
Despite the foundational role girls’ education and family planning play in
society and for long-term climate adaptation, attention to these sectors in
national climate plans is negligible. Analysis of new, revised, or updated
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from 95 countries found that
only 15 mention girls in the context of education, and none reference the
contribution that investment in girls’ education could play toward meeting a
country’s adaptation goals.68 Only six Paris Agreement signatory countries
out of 50 in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and the Caribbean mention
reproductive health as a climate adaptation strategy in their NDCs.69 Likewise,
existing multisectoral climate programs and country-level projects have not
typically included education or reproductive health initiatives to improve
adaptation and resilience despite compelling evidence for both.3, 6, 7, 52, 63, 70
Girls’ education and family planning align well with NAPs’ focus on medium and
long-term priorities for adapting to climate change in ways that make people,
ecosystems, and economies more resilient.
Family planning is a sound investment: A recent Copenhagen Consensus
analysis showed that family planning has a significant impact on averting
maternal deaths, providing $26.80 US in health benefits for every $1 US dollar
spent. Saving mothers’ lives yields intergenerational economic, educational,
and health benefits, which boosts resilience.71 In 53 LMICs in Africa, 58 million
women do not want to become pregnant but are not using contraception;
meeting all reproductive health needs would only cost $22.50 per capita
annually.58 Enhancing climate adaptation and resilience is costly, so it is wise
to invest in human rights–focused adaptation strategies that also yield a high
return on investment and contribute to long-term resilience. Unfortunately,
The ability to
plan and space
births yields
numerous benefits
for mothers and
children.
Photo by Yagazie Emezi/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment
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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
family planning is often considered a private women’s
issue and therefore receives less policy attention than
other development sectors; family planning currently
receives less than 1% of international aid.72
Education also needs additional funding; in 2019, before
the pandemic, education was 67% underfunded at the
global level.73 Globally, countries aim to contribute 20%
(or 4-6% of GDP) of domestic expenditure on financing
their own public education systems, but historically
this has been challenging for many LMICs. As a result,
numerous countries depend on multilateral and bilateral
funding to help support education financing through
multilaterals like the Global Partnership for Education.
Some of the $100B US74 annual commitments—which,
shamefully, remain unfulfilled—from high-income
countries to LMICs for climate adaptation could go
toward long-term climate adaptation strategies such as
girls’ education and family planning, if they are included
in NAPs. Other adaptation interventions such as
increasing food security; improving water, sanitation, and
hygiene (WASH); boosting livelihoods; and enhancing
infrastructure contribute to girls’ education and to
climate adaptation as well.
The NAP process gives countries an opportunity to
apply bilateral and multilateral adaptation funds to
multisectoral climate adaptation projects, bringing about
transformative long-term change through investment
in girls’ education, reproductive health, and more.
Others have recently begun to include family planning
and girls’ education in their work; the UN Environment
Programme’s 2021 report Making peace with nature75
highlights the value of investing in community-based
family planning, improved women’s access to financing
and education, and girls’ education as part of holistic
conservation programs. The International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has also recently made
the case for removing barriers to rights-based family
planning,76 and health organizations are increasingly
recognizing that education is closely linked to health.
Women and girls around the world are demanding that
their rights to education and contraceptive choice be
met. Investing in such initiatives as part of long-term
climate adaptation strategies will not only fulfill those
rights, but also ensure that girls, women, communities,
and countries are well-positioned to overcome climate
shocks and stressors.
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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
Recommended Actions
RECOGNIZE THAT GIRLS’ EDUCATION
AND FAMILY PLANNING ARE EFFECTIVE
LONG-TERM CLIMATE ADAPTATION
STRATEGIES IN NAPS AND NDCS.
Countries need to balance short- and medium-
term solutions, such as providing food during
climate-induced droughts, with long-term
solutions, such as boosting girls’ education and
family planning. Ensuring that NAPs are gender-
responsive means not only including women
in the NAP process but also making sure
NAPs include strategies such as girls’ education
and family planning as part of broader
reproductive health and gender equality goals.77
Incorporating these sectors also ensures
NAPs are multisectoral and include vulnerable
populations. Furthermore, NDCs that include
voluntary actions on adaptation could also
highlight girls’ education and family planning.
HIGHLIGHT GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND
FAMILY PLANNING IN CLIMATE
POLICIES AND FORUMS.
Due in part to systemic exclusion from decision-
making, women and girls are particularly
vulnerable to climate change, especially in the
worst aected regions in sub-Saharan Africa. A
comprehensive gender-responsive action plan
that removes barriers to girls’ education and
family planning would not only lead to greater
resilience for the most vulnerable members of
society, but also lead to more equitable and just
societies and contribute to fulfillment of the SDGs.
Education systems, schools, and teaching should
be climate resilient. The Lima Work Programme
on gender and its accompanying Gender Action
Plan should be expanded beyond a focus on
women’s inclusion and leadership to include
detailed strategies to boost girls’ education and
remove barriers to family planning. Commitments
in July 2021 to gender equality, sexual and
reproductive health and rights, and climate
justice during the Generation Equality Forum are
a helpful guide, as is the recent call to boost the
Doha Work Programme on Action for Climate
Empowerment to recognize the vital role gender-
transformative education can play in driving
climate justice.78, 79
INCLUDE GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND
FAMILY PLANNING IN CLIMATE
ADAPTATION FINANCE.
When countries include girls’ education and
family planning as part of multisectoral adaptation
projects, donors should support those requests.
In addition, the Development Assistance
Committee of the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development could add
gender equality markers for climate finance to
track whether climate adaptation funds are going
to girls’ education and family planning. Ensuring
all people, particularly those most vulnerable to
climate change and its impacts, have full rights
and access to education and modern voluntary
contraception contributes to long-term climate
adaptation. It also oers enormous co-benefits
for adaptation strategies related to food security,
WASH, livelihoods, and infrastructure.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to our external reviewers Lucia Fry, Karen Hardee, David Johnson, Christina Kwauk, Cheryl Margoluis,
Kathleen Mogelgaard, and Clive Mutunga, whose expertise and constructive feedback significantly strengthened
the brief. Special thanks to our colleague Chad Frischmann for his helpful contributions and guidance. We thank and
acknowledge King Philanthropies for their generous support of Drawdown Lift.
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PROJECT DRAWDOWN POLICY BRIEF | GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING
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