95%
countries
where we work have a high vulnerability to climate change
792
health clinics
supported by Pathfinder to develop preparedness measures for climate shocks
418,000
people
reached with climate change information through Pathfinder's engagement of youth networks in West Africa
58,000
people
trained by Pathfinder programs on sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and emergency preparedness
Climate change can undo decades of progress in global health. It puts everything we strive for at risk.
The climate crisis threatens the ability of each person to be healthy, thrive, and live the life they choose—but this is especially true for women and girls. Climate disasters increase unintended pregnancies, gender-based violence, early and forced marriages, and unsafe births and abortions, while disrupting access to sexual and reproductive health services.
Climate resilience is critical to health and forging pathways to sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. Around the world, we apply locally led solutions to climate and health resilience, delivering crucial services to women and girls while helping communities adapt to the climate crisis. We partner with women and young people to develop climate innovations that brighten the future of entire communities and nations.
The goals of our climate and health programs are to:
- Support climate-resilient health and health systems that provide continuous services responding to the needs of women, young people, and communities throughout their lives, thereby reducing climate-related health risks and cementing health as a tool for agency and a pathway to equity.
- Address the human impacts of climate change through holistic, integrated, and human-centered approaches that give communities the tools to lead adaptation and manage the impacts of climate change, including through livelihoods opportunities, social safety nets, education, and voice and equity in society.
- Promote the next generation of climate leaders and innovators by building the leadership capabilities of women and young people and shifting power toward women and girls, enhancing their participation, voice, and agency in climate actions and decision-making.
We work toward those goals through the following approaches:
- Health Systems Strengthening: We enhance health systems’ climate resilience through coordination, systems strengthening, advocacy, tools, training, equipment, and technical support. We support health care workers’ and health facilities’ climate resilience and preparedness, thereby enabling them to provide continuous, high-quality, climate-responsive services.
- Community Engagement: We lead multisectoral community mobilization and behavior change communication activities to advance gender-transformative climate-smart actions; climate preparedness planning; response to climate emergencies; uptake of adaptive practices; and integrated climate, environment, and livelihoods goals.
- Learning & Digital Innovations: We apply digital applications that integrate climate and health information for cost-effective knowledge dissemination, integrated data tracking, enhanced preparedness, and agile response to community needs.
- Women’s Leadership & Gender Equity: We integrate gender equity, and women’s leadership and economic development into our climate and health programming. This approach builds holistic climate resilience, accelerates women-led climate innovations, and advances women’s and girls’ voices in climate and health initiatives from grassroots efforts to the global level.
- Advocacy: We engage in advocacy and technical capacity strengthening to support local, regional, and national governments in integrating climate, health, and gender into their policies and strategic plans. We engage with academic and private-sector partners to drive impact.
Test your climate IQ!
With climate change, who’s most at risk?
