Climate Change x Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Framework
Photo by Mohamed Lammah on Unsplash
Climate change is a reproductive health crisis. We're building the evidence, tools, and solutions to respond.
Project:
Climate Change x Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Framework
Location:
Global
Funders:
Organon
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Funders:
Panorama Global
Challenge
A woman in rural Mozambique loses access to her contraceptive supply after a cyclone destroys the nearest health clinic. A pregnant teenager in Pakistan misses her prenatal appointments after flooding cuts off the road to her nearest clinic.
Climate change is already affecting women's reproductive health. But because climate and sexual and reproductive health and rights have always belonged to different sectors, different funding streams, and different policy agendas, the compounding effect has largely been unmeasured, unfunded, and unaddressed.
The result is a growing crisis hidden in the gap between two agendas. Women and girls in the most climate-vulnerable regions are losing access to the services that determine their health, their autonomy, and their ability to adapt.
Photo by Images of Empowerment
Innovation
YLabs set out to build what didn't exist: the evidence, infrastructure, and tools to connect climate change and SRHR, and to make that connection actionable for funders, implementers, and policymakers.
In 2025, YLabs published the largest peer-reviewed study to date on how climate extremes interact with contraceptive use and reproductive autonomy, drawing on data from 820,000 women across 33 low and middle-income countries. A global policy analysis of 58 national adaptation plans revealed that half made no mention of SRHR, and none addressed contraceptive access during climate disruptions. Together, these findings gave the field its first clear, evidence-based picture of how deep the blind spot runs.
From there, YLabs built the infrastructure to translate evidence into action. The Climate x SRHR Evidence Hub (climate-srhr.org) houses tools for funders and implementors at this intersection. The Climate-SRHR Donor Community of Practice, co-hosted with Panorama Global, has grown from 20 members to over 110. And the Climate-SRHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, the first of its kind, gives funders and implementers a consistent way to evaluate climate-SRHR investments.
Now, YLabs is translating this evidence base into frontline solutions by building the next generation of climate-responsive tools for women's and girls' health. If you're working at this intersection, we’d love to hear from you.
Publications
Climate Change x Sexual and Reproductive Health Framework
The complex relationship between climate anomalies and reproductive attitudes and practices in low- and middle-income countries
Frontiers in Global Women's Health | 2025
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in National Adaptation Plan & Health National Adaptation Plans
The Impact of Climate Change on Sexual and Reproductive Health
2024
Innovative Approaches to Addressing Climate Change Impacts on Sexual and Reproductive Health
2024
View our joint webinar with Organon on how you can take action at the intersection of health and climate using the framework.
If you are interested in getting involved, please reach out to contact@ylabsglobal.org.
