Family Planning & The Environment
We have made a Family Planning 2030 Commitment, which includes increasing the number of policies and publications recognising the critical importance of the removal of barriers to family planning as a pillar of climate and biodiversity action. We will achieve this by using our unique status as the only organisation with our contraception and sexual health expertise which is also a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with Observer Status of both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and which is accredited by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Reproductive choice in national biodiversity policy
The IUCN Biodiversity & Family Planning Task Force, which is co-chaired by members of our team, has published guidance to help advocates working on national biodiversity plans. The countries which have ratified the UN Convention on Biological Diversity are required to develop and implement national biodiversity strategies and action plans, or NBSAPs. Each NBSAP is developed and determined nationally, through a process involving stakeholders working together across sectors to identify threats to biodiversity and ecosystems, alongside the relevant national strategies and actions which can respond to those threats. Most countries are reviewing their NBSAPs in 2024. The new publication Reproductive choice in national biodiversity policy introduces the background to NBSAPs, highlights how to engage in national revision processes, and suggests entry points in order to promote the importance of removing barriers to voluntary and rights-based family planning and the development of new Population, Health and Environment (PHE) programmes within those plans. We encourage anyone who plans to use the guide to let us know, so we can connect them with others working in the same country to promote reproductive choice in this important process.
Policy
Find out how an NGO with our family planning background is changing environmental policy and practice.
Discover MoreProjects
We design and develop projects, with partners, integrating family planning and conservation action.
Learn MoreFAQs
Got questions on the connections between family planning and environmental conservation? Don't know what barriers to family planning are? We've got quick answers here.
Learn More