Friday 6 November, 2026
Media Alert
Plan International to spotlight girls on the frontline of
climate loss at COP31, Türkiye
New research reveals climate shocks are driving rising violence, child marriage and lost access to health services for girls, as world leaders gather for climate talks
Plan International will lead a significant delegation of girls and young women from some of the most climate vulnerable regions to COP31 (9-20 November 2026) in Antalya, Türkiye, pressing governments, including Australia, to deliver concrete climate finance and loss and damage commitments, with a particular focus on the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis on adolescent girls.
Why this matters:
New Plan International research finds that girls living through drought are nearly twice as likely as other girls to report rising violence, child marriage and unintended pregnancy in their communities. The Change Her Forecast report surveyed 5,000 girls and young women aged 15 to 24 in Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
Where drought was the main climate event, 48% of girls had seen more girls and young women experiencing gender-based violence, compared with 25% of those who faced other climate events. Among girls whose most severe climate event was drought, 54% had noticed more unintended pregnancy in their communities, compared with 29% of those who faced other climate events, and 60% had seen more girls marrying before 18.
Drought cuts deepest into family survival, with girls in drought-hit areas more than twice as likely to report losing access to food (75% compared with 34%) and losing income (53% compared with 24%). The research shows the gravest risks to girls build up slowly, over months and years of climate pressure and poverty.
Overall, nine in ten girls said all kinds of climate events, from floods to typhoons to fires, were placing serious pressure on their household’s survival, health and stability, and more than three-quarters (76%) said more girls and young women in their community were struggling to access at least one sexual or reproductive health service.
Girls from minority communities face even steeper risks: they were twice as likely to struggle to access services, nearly three times as likely to report an unintended pregnancy, and more than twice as likely to face pressure to marry young.
With a “super” El Nino looming, girls expect worse to come, with 81.5% worried that future climate events will worsen at least one sexual and reproductive health outcome
In parallel, exclusive new Pacific research from Plan International Australia and PICAN, drawn from talanoa (a Pacific concept of open, inclusive, story‑based dialogue rooted in values of sharing, empathy, and collective understanding) with 53 community groups across Kiribati, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Bougainville, found disrupted seasons reported by 83% of groups and more than half (53%) reporting climate-related disruptions to children’ s schooling, with girls describing flooded rivers blocking their path to school and the loss of ancestral knowledge and family member’s graves to the rising sea.
“Girls pay the highest price for a crisis they did nothing to cause. They’re pulled out of school first, they eat last, and they carry the heaviest burden when climate shocks hit, facing rising child marriage, violence and exploitation. Australia cannot call itself a climate leader at COP31 while it keeps approving the fossil fuel projects driving these disasters,” said Plan International Australia CEO Susanne Legena.
Key event:
The Tide Remembers: Pacific Stories of Loss, Damage and Gender Justice
Plan International Australia’ s flagship COP31 event
- When: Tuesday 17 November, 1:00–1:50pm
- Where: Moana Pavilion, COP31, Antalya, Türkiye
- What: A storytelling talanoa centring Pacific communities, women and girls on the frontlines of loss and damage, sharing findings from the new PICAN/Plan loss and damage briefing, Pacific Voices on Loss and Damage, and Pacific Girls in a Changing Climate report.
- Speakers:
- Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis (moderator), National Ambassador, Plan International Australia
- Dr Sindra Sharma, International Policy Lead, PICAN, Pacific Voices on Loss and Damage report author
- Kavita Naidu, international human rights lawyer and feminist climate activist
- PISFCC representative (TBC)
Talent available for interview at COP31
- Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis (Australian) – Ambassador, Plan International Australia; Child and Adolescent Health PhD candidate, University of Melbourne/Murdoch Children’ s Research Institute; moderator of the Moana Pavilion event
- Tegan Clark (Australian) – Youth Advocate, Plan International Australia; co-founder, Oceania Youth Climate Negotiation Network (OYCNN); climate/gender researcher, ANU
- Kupakwashe Matangira – Youth advocate; 2024 Diana Awardee and Clarendon Scholar, University of Oxford; member, DCCEEW Youth Advisory Council; COP28, COP29 and COP30 delegate
- Georgia Shakeshaft (Australian) – Youth advocate and law student; co-founder, OYCNN; former delegate to COP28 and UN Commission on the Status of Women
- Young women climate activists from Indonesia, China, Brazil, the Pacific, the Philippines and Jordan
- Si Qi Wen – Policy and Advocacy Advisor (Climate Finance, Loss and Damage), Plan International Australia
- Dr Sindra Sharma – Report author, Pacific Voices on Loss and Damage,
- Stu Solomon – Global Lead, Climate Hub, Plan International
Our key asks at COP31
- Climate finance must reach girls. Australia should announce a new five-year climate finance commitment of $11 billion AUD (2025–2030), delivered as new, additional, public, grant-based finance that funds the services girls rely on most: education, health, clean water and protection. Of 591 projects approved by four major climate funds between 2006 and 2023, just 2.4% responded to children’ s needs, and fewer than 4% meaningfully considered girls.
- Children and girls must be at the centre of climate action. COP31 should adopt a dedicated mandate on children and climate change, ensuring girls’ distinct risks, including missed education, unpaid care burdens, violence, child marriage and unintended pregnancy, are addressed rather than treated as a side issue.
- Loss and damage funding must scale up and reach Nepal. The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage has received 176 requests worth around USD $2.8 billion, against just USD $342 million currently allocated. Australia should support Nepal’ s urgent request following its devastating floods.
- Girls must have real influence over climate decisions. Asked how they want to be included, 39% of girls surveyed in Change Her Forecast report said leaders should listen to their ideas, and 34% asked for leadership training.
Background
Plan International Australia recently secured Green Climate Fund (GCF) accreditation, becoming one of a select group of global humanitarian and development NGOs to earn the status, enabling it to apply directly for climate finance to design and deliver large-scale adaptation and resilience programs.
Plan International’ s global Change Her Forecast report, companion COP31 policy brief, From Commitments to Implementation can be found on our COP31 resource page: COP31 Resources - Plan International Australia
The Pacific Voices on Loss and Damage brief is attached to this email.
Contact
Claire Knox, Senior Manager, Media, PR and Strategic Communications, +61 (0)452326549 [email protected]