Women are disproportionately suffering from the effects of climate change as child marriages among young girls increase among vulnerable countries, according to an Indonesian environmental activist and 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee. 

“There is an increase of child marriage in places like Bangladesh… It was largely because changing climate led to crop failures, (and could) lead to more disasters,” Farwiza Farhan, an Indonesian environmental activist said during the Ramon Magsaysay Awards video conference interview.  

Ms. Farhan highlighted that the impacts of climate change are pushing more families into poverty, forcing more young girls into marriage.  

“When the family is poor and they have many children, and they have to decide on the future of their children… they consider marrying off the girls… to someone who hopefully would be able to take care of them,” she said.  

These young girls are often married off to older men, some of whom are already married, and sometimes the marriages are non-consensual, Ms. Farhan said.  

“Often, we don’t necessarily link environmental destruction and climate change to how women and girls have lost opportunities in life,” she said.  

In the aftermath of major disasters in Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, reports reveal a 38.5% rise in child marriages, according to a 2023 study by the International Rescue Committee.  

Based on the study’s findings, economic constraints, societal perceptions, food price hikes, and financial crises are among the driving factors of child marriage in Bangladesh.  

On a global scale, the number of girls at extreme risk of both child marriage and climate change is expected to balloon by 33% to nearly 40 million by 2050, according to a 2023 statement from Save the Children.  

Two-thirds of these numbers happen in regions with higher-than-average climate risks, Save the Children said.  

To reduce the impact of climate change and promote environmental conservation, Ms. Farhan believes that it requires collective action.  

This begins with fostering a positive sphere of influence, especially among children, through practices such as waster separation, Ms. Farhan said. 

“Even the smallest things… it plants the seed of belief that each of us has the power to make a difference and I think that is more important than anything else,” she said.  – Edg Adrian A. Eva