This 2009 edition of The State of World Population shows that climate change is more than an issue of energy efficiency or industrial carbon emissions; it is also an issue of population dynamics, poverty and gender equity.

Over the years, the international community’s approach to population policies has evolved from a topdown focus on demographic change to a people-centred approach based on human rights and informed choice. Voices that invoke "population control” as a response to climate change fail to grasp the complexity of the issue and ignore international consensus.

This report shows that women have the power to mobilize against climate change, but this potential can be realized only through policies that empower them. It also shows the required support that would allow women to fully contribute to adaptation, mitigation and building resilience to climate change.

By taking a broader, more nuanced approach to climate change that factors in gender and population, the governments of the world, and indeed civil society and we ourselves in the United Nations, will make a valuable contribution to the Copenhagen conference and meaningful action in addressing this long-term challenge.