Issue 35 Autumn 2019 Our generations are the first to really understand the impact we are having on nature. We’re also the last who can do anything about it. Bella Lack, Population Matters Conference, April 2019 ISSN 2053-0412 (Print) ISSN 2053-0420 (Online) every choice counts CONTENTS | PAGES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 4 Contents About Population Matters Population Matters is a UK-based charity working globally to achieve our vision of humanity co-existing in harmony with nature and prospering on a healthy planet. We drive positive action through fostering choices that will help achieve a sustainable human population and regenerate our environment. We promote positive, practical, ethical solutions – encouraging people to choose smaller families and inspiring people to consume sustainably – to enable everyone to 3 From the Director enjoy a decent quality of life whilst sustaining Saving the planet: every choice counts 7 the natural ecosystems upon which all life depends. We support human rights, women’s 4 Campaign Update empowerment and global justice. No more spix’s macaw: Population Matters is a registered charity in England and Wales (1114109) and a company limited by guarantee in Convention on Biodiversity England (3019081) registered address 135-137 Station Road, London, E4 6AG. Population Matters is the working name of the Optimum Population Trust 6 Empower to Plan: Jiwsi Providing relationship and Magazine sex education in Wales Printed in the UK by Jamm Print & Productions using vegetable-based inks on 7 PM News 100% recycled paper. The last elephant in the room Design, infographics & illustrations: Miller Design 8 Going Global Editor: Rachel Musk World Population Day Cover image: ©Florence Blondel Climate Coalition Population Matters Magazine is produced twice a year by 10 Population Matters, 135-137 Station Road, London E4 6AG 10 Saving the Planet Registered charity: 1114109 Tel: 020 8123 9116 For The most powerful action is the further information, e-versions and back copies log onto populationmatters.org/resources/ most neglected Stay connected 12 Population News No water = no life populationmatters.org Is zero hunger by 2030 achievable? PopulationMatters Global gag rule consequences PopnMatters UK population: growing and greying popnmatters PopulationMatters 14 Shutting Us Up Population Declinism t: 020 8123 9116 18 e: [email protected] 16 Small Families ed: [email protected] Prince Harry and the British public a: 135-137 Station Road, London E4 6AG think small is best 17 2040 Join the regeneration 102.96* WORLD 18 Interview: Dr Edu Effiom Enabling choice in Nigeria Women’s Empowerment POPULATION 20 Poster: Education EmpowersFAMILY PLANNING & EDUCATING GIRLS THIS ISSUE Girls’ education impacts family size choice 7,719,442,823 PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE9 BY PASSING8 IT ON.7 Wind Turbines 89.74 Refrigerant Management 70.53 Reduced Food Waste 66.11 Plant-rich Diet CONTENTS | PAGES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 From the Director Saving the planet: every choice counts © Colin Rayner © Colin alone! Just as Peter Wadhams pointed out, the IPCC’s critical omission of methane released from thawing seabed permafrost (methane being thirty times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide), there is one single life-style choice that both world leaders and individuals (particularly the young people protesting on the streets) could readily promote and adopt to curb ongoing, long-term climate change. Yet, as Olivia Nater sets out in her article (p10), the ‘most powerful action to save the planet’ empowering people, especially young women, to choose smaller families through access to education and safe modern family planning ‘is the most neglected one’. Simpler, less contentious, and with more immediate benefits to people across the “Women with more years of education world than the challenging, if ultimately essential, solutions promoted by most have fewer and healthier children, and climate change campaigners. Yes, the actively manage their reproductive global oil and gas giants must be forced out of hydro-carbons, but they’re not Paul Hawken, Project Drawdown health.”- going to do so without a fight and after squeezing every last drop of profit from The numbers for September’s Climate by failing to mention the ‘very serious existing investments. And installing low Strike were impressive: 2,500 events threat’ of methane released from the carbon boilers to 83% of UK homes has in 163 countries, with an estimated Arctic. Those of you who attended been calculated to cost £5,000 a pop for 4 million people taking part – especially our 2018 Conference, ‘More Feet, new homes; a staggering £26,000 each considering they were inspired by and More Heat?’ will remember Professor for retrofitting existing homes. Such grew out of Greta Thunberg’s lone Wadhams’ powerful presentation, challenging choices are going to have to protest ‘Skolstrejk for klimatet’ just including alarming images of be made – but why ignore the easy ones? over a year ago outside the Swedish methane bubbling up from the Parliament. The majority of younger thawing seabed permafrost. Runaway, None of the mainstream environmental people taking part demanded world irreversible – but not hopeless. groups and few individual climate leaders live up to their name and act activists seem aware of or will champion to curb runaway climate change. But There are many practical actions that ‘most powerful action’, despite it as the UN climate talks concluded, the world leaders must take and promote, being confirmed in research by Project leading authorities on the science - the galvanised by the energy of the Drawdown as the ‘Number one solution International Panel on Climate Change generation that will be still alive to face to climate change’. That lifestyle choice (IPCC)– issued their latest assessment the consequences long after today’s and the means to provide it are confirming the lack of leadership leaders are dead. Infrastructure and eloquently described by Project over decades “Climate change is lifestyle choices that appear obvious Drawdown’s founder, Paul Hawken: now irreversible due to the heat and seemingly simple to implement: “Educating girls lays a foundation for uptake of the ocean. We can’t go back end the extraction and burning of vibrant lives for girls and women, their whatever we do with our emissions”. fossil-fuels; rapidly scale-up renewable families, and their communities. It is energy; get us out of our cars and also one of the most powerful levers Runaway climate change is with off airplanes; cut meat consumption available for avoiding emissions by us. Professor Peter Wadhams, the (certainly intensive grain-fed systems); curbing population growth.” world’s leading expert on Arctic sea transition from using gas to heat our ice and a member of PM’s Advisory homes and for cooking, as advised What’s not to like? Council, added his own starker by the Climate Change Committee. analysis pointing out that the IPCC Hang on, that means removing over report underestimated the situation 23 million gas boilers in the UK populationmatters.org every choice counts 3 CONTENTS | PAGES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 NO MORE SPIX’S MACAW One of the first acts of our director such as the giant panda and the blue Robin, when he joined Population whale. The overall picture however, is Matters (PM) in 2017, was to one of shocking and accelerating decline. commission our Big Foot sculpture. A The lion is not yet threatened with conversation starter wherever he goes, extinction, but it is already too late for Big Foot embodies one of PM’s guiding the northern white rhino, theNO Chinese MORE principles – human beings are out of river dolphin and Spix’s macaw, to name balance with the Earth and the natural just three of the tens of thousands of world. Big Foot demonstrates this species thought to be lost each year. clearly: standing on top of a squashed Scientists and conservationists now call globe, he is picking a goo of squashed the current crisis the Sixth Mass animals from his feet. Big Foot is the Extinction (the fifth being the symbol of our Anthropocene campaign dinosaurs). It is thought that the rate of and over the two years since he made animal extinctions is between 100 and SPIX’Shis public debut, his relevance and 1,000 times higher than it would be MACAW resonance with audiences has become without human influence. even greater. The primary drivers of biodiversity loss The Anthropocene effect which has are well-recognised: received the greatest attention is • Habitat degradation/loss climate change, for understandable • Exploitation reasons. Posing, as our Patron Sir David • Invasive species and disease Attenborough recently said, a threat to • Pollution the future of our civilisations, climate • Climate change change demands urgent and radical NO MORE action. Global heating is now finally Scientists have repeatedly identified high on the agenda thanks to teenage population growth as a driver of school strikers like Greta Thunberg and almost all of those factors. The the actions of Extinction Rebellion, most authoritative recent report “Just over a century ago, among many others. PM continues to was the global assessment of the highlight the importance of addressing Intergovernmental Science-Policy there were more than the number of climate emitters as part Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem 200,000 wild lions living of the solution to climate change, most Services (IPBES) published in May in Africa. Today, there are recently during the climate action week 2019. The assessment estimated SPIX’Sin September (p9). that one million species of animals MACAW only about 20,000; lions and plants are currently at risk of are extinct in 26 African The issue of biodiversity loss has extinction.