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Why Population Matters for Friends of the Earth

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Why Population Matters for Friends of the Earth “It is self-evident that in a world of finite resources, population must be part of a long-term strategy for sustainability.” Tomorrow’s World, Britain’s Share in a Sustainable Future, Friends of the Earth, 1997 Why Population Matters for Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth’s declared climate change, biodiversity and on halting mission is to: “Make life better for desertification – as well as an action plan, people by inspiring solutions to ‘Agenda 21’, signed up to by nearly 200 governments and manifested in myriad local environmental problems”. community actions. In 2012, the world’s An admirable ambition for an leaders gathered again for Rio+20. organisation that claims to be: But despite those international agreements “The most influential national and the concerted efforts of individuals and environmental campaigning communities across the world, twenty years organisation with the world’s most on the Earth’s ecosystems and natural extensive environmental network”. resources continue to decline: Over its 40-year history, Friends • An area of primary forest the The world’s of the Earth (FOE) can justifiably size of Argentina (300 million human population claim to have inspired people and hectares) has been lost has nearly doubled influenced policy, both globally since 1992. With 13 million hectares of rainforest cleared over the past 40 years: and nationally – reflecting its to other uses each year from from 3.7 billion in early strapline to, ‘Think Globally, 2000 – 20101 1971 to over 7 Act Locally’. • Global carbon dioxide levels billion today. The organisation has been in the vanguard increased 36% over 1992 – 2008; of raising the public and political profile 40% in the past 20 years2 of the environment since its foundation in • Overall biodiversity has declined by at 1971. It took two decades of campaigning least one-third. and pressure, but as part of the global environment movement, Friends of the Hence, the bleak summary of the current Earth can take credit for getting the issues state of the world’s environment in WWF’s References People and Planet magazine, 1 Global Forest Resources discussed and actions proposed by the assessment 2010, FAO largest ever gathering of world leaders at “Despite the optimism of the Forestry Paper 163. the first Earth Summit in 1992. Here at http://www.fao.org/ 1990s and the impressive list of docrep/013/i1757e/i1757e. home, Friends of the Earth was the driving pdf conventions and treaties ratified 2 United Nations force in achieving the Climate Change Act Environment Programme, Keeping Track of Our 2008; making the UK the first country to by governments, the world is Changing Environment: set legally-binding, time-lined targets to cut From Rio to Rio + 20 still confronted by the same set (1992–2012) (Nairobi: UNEP, greenhouse gas emissions. of intractable environment and 2011). 3 http://www. The Earth Summit produced conventions on resource challenges.”3 peopleandplanet.net/?lid=3 0401&section=33&topic=27 This briefing is an independent production written and researched by Robin Maynard It is NOT an official FOE publication Nationally, the picture seems However, the organisation’s concern at the better – at least as far as curbing failure of current measures and policies to climate change is concerned. slow climate change sufficiently quickly has been interpreted by some commentators Friends of the Earth’s campaign to get the as presaging a reversal of one of the Climate Change Bill on the statute books organisation’s founding principles, its stance was exemplary, engaging people throughout against nuclear power: “Friends of the society, and securing sign-up across the Earth is seriously considering abandoning its political spectrum. Now the Bill is an Act, it decades-long opposition to nuclear power, seems to be working. A recent government the organisation’s head of policy, science and progress review shows it to be ahead of research... has revealed to me in an extensive the targets set for 2008 – 12; with a 26% and very frank interview”.8 reduction achieved in 2011, against an annual average set of 21.7%.4 Such interpretations may be wholly without foundation and represent mischievous stirring However, the UK Government is operating by those with their own agendas, but they to an interim reduction target of a 36% do indicate the dwindling ‘wriggle-room’ reduction on 1990 levels of greenhouse remaining for effecting change – if only one gases by 2020, with the overall objective of of the two factors driving environmental achieving an 80% cut by 2050. Friends of degradation is addressed. the Earth was already questioning whether that interim target was sufficient to prevent The inexorable rise in greenhouse gas dangerous climate change just one year after emissions and decline in the world’s the Climate Change Act came into being; biodiversity are driven by two factors: calling for an interim cut of ‘at least 42%’ by • increasing levels of consumption 2020 if there were to be a reasonable chance • increasing numbers of consumers. of meeting the 80% reduction by 2050.5 Friends of the Earth has focused on the In a more recent briefing, Friends of the former for the past 40 years, but chosen Earth has revised the figures even higher not to address the latter. Yet as the Royal – calling for 56% cuts on 1990 levels by Society states in its report, People and planet, 2020 and to bring forward the 80% cuts by published in April 2012, “Consumption and twenty years to 2030. This dramatic increase demography are closely inter-twined. Every in the level and pace of cuts is necessary person must consume, and each additional because, “Recent scientific understanding of person on the planet will add to total climate change suggests that the EU target consumption levels.” 9 of a maximum 2 degree temperature rise, identified in 1996, carries greater risks than In its recommendations at the end of the previously thought. A temperature limit report, the Royal Society again emphasises of 1.5 degrees is now more appropriate the indivisible interaction between the factors References 4 UK GREENHOUSE GAS to reduce the risks of passing irreversible of population and consumption and calls for EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS: this to be recognised and integrated into all WHERE ARE WE?, http:// “tipping points”. Even this would not wholly www.decc.gov.uk/ international discussions, “Population and the assets/decc/11/stats/ prevent increases in extreme weather with climate-change/6369-uk- the catastrophic impacts they bring, especially environment should not be considered as two greenhouse-gas-emissions- separate issues. Demographic changes should reductions-where-are-.pdf to the poorest people with the least ability to 5 http://www.foe.co.uk/ adapt and respond.”6 be factored into international meetings such resource/briefings/2020_ as the Rio+20 Conference.” climate_target.pdf The organisation believes it is possible to 6 Is it too late to avoid dangerous climate change? achieve these steeper, faster-tracked cuts; They weren’t. Neither in 1992 FOE Briefing, August 2012, http://www.foe.co.uk/ but FOE’s anxiety at the urgency and extent or 20 years later at Rio+20 was resource/briefings/not_too_ of the challenge is apparent in its openness late_briefing.pdf any serious, specific attention or 7 ‘Start cutting CO2 before to exploring the deployment of what it calls, Captain Bonkers does,’ action directed at what Jonathon Charles Clover, S. Times, 6th “some risky technologies”: September 2009. Porritt, former Director of Friends 8 http://www.marklynas. • Artificial ‘trees’ for capturing carbon org/2012/06/friends- of the Earth and later Chair of the of-the-earth-considers- • Dumping crop biomass at sea abandoning-anti-nuclear- UK’s Sustainable Development stance/ • ‘Liming’ the oceans. Commission describes as, “one of 9 People and the Planet, Royal Society 2011 Friends of the Earth isn’t considering the the most important sustainability 10 Resurgence & The full range of ‘Captain Bonkers-style’ geo- 10 Ecologist magazine, challenges today”. September/October 2012, engineering tech-fixes as compiled (but not Issue 274, ‘The Elephant in the Room’. http://www. 7 endorsed) by the Royal Society in 2009. Namely, Population. resurgence.org/magazine/ article3734.html 2 Why population matters for Friends of the Earth “…while poor country population growth is not the driver of climate change, it would be absurd to deny that the necessary global transition to a low-carbon, less–resource intensive, less- polluting economic future will not be infinitely harder to achieve in a world of 10 billion rather than 6.8 billion. Given its detrimental impacts on poverty reduction, it is surprising that the issue of population growth has received so little attention over the last decade from development donors, agencies and developing countries alike.” Save the Children, 201011 “Why doesn’t Friends of the Earth campaign against overpopulation?” A search of Friends of the Earth’s website Friends of the Earth’s more recent policy produces only three documents dealing paper of 2010 has shifted position slightly directly with the issue of Population – all three in recognising that, “Population growth focused on seeking to answer the question is one of the drivers of environmental above (as the most recent document of April degradation. However, in our view it is not 2011 is titled), ‘Why doesn’t Friends the major driver. Rather, it is consumption of the Earth campaign against issues which present a much greater and more urgent threat to the environment. overpopulation?’ We also believe that consumption issues, A question that Friends of the while challenging, are more amenable to Earth’s Local Groups have asked influence by an organisation like Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern numerous times over the history Ireland, based as it is in a high-consuming of the organisation’s existence, with rich country.” 12 Motions put forward at several Local Group In the report ‘Home Truths’ by the Conferences, notably in 2008 and 2009, Oxford Environmental Change Institute calling for the national organisation to address commissioned by Friends of the Earth and the issue.
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