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Sir David Attenborough Speaks out “Slowing Population Growth Is Key to Saving the Planet.” Feed the World? the Indigestible Truth

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Sir David Attenborough Speaks out “Slowing Population Growth Is Key to Saving the Planet.” Feed the World? the Indigestible Truth Issue 34 Spring 2019 Sir David Attenborough Speaks Out “Slowing population growth is key to saving the planet.” Feed The World? The Indigestible Truth ISSN 2053-0412 (Print) ISSN 2053-0420 (Online) the magazine for a sustainable future CONTENTS | PAGES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 12 Contents About Population Matters Population Matters campaigns to achieve a sustainable human population, to protect the natural world and improve people’s lives. We promote positive, practical, ethical solutions – encouraging smaller families, inspiring people to reduce excessive consumption and helping us all to live within our planet’s natural limits. We support human rights, 3 From The Director women’s empowerment and global justice. The charm offensive Through our campaigning, advocacy and education work we are influencing 4 Campaign Update 4 policymakers, communities and individuals International Framework and World Population Day 2019 to make the changes needed for a healthy planet and a decent standard of living for all, 5 Join The Movement now and in the future. Be part of the solution Population Matters is a registered charity in England and Wales (1114109) and a company limited by guarantee in 6 Empower To Plan England (3019081) registered address 135-137 Station Road, London, E4 6AG. Population Matters is the working Dandelion Africa: Boys for Change name of the Optimum Population Trust. 7 PM News Magazine 8 World Vasectomy Day Population: an inconvenient truth Population Matters does not necessarily endorse contributions nor guarantee their 10 Global News accuracy. Population Matters Magazine is PM patron Sir David Attenborough speaks out produced twice a year by Population Matters. 10 For further information, e-versions and UN population report: the power of choice back copies log onto populationmatters.org/ Insect apocalypse threatens all life on earth resources/ Printed in the UK by Jamm Print & Global risks: where does population rank? Productions using vegetable-based inks on 100% recycled paper. 12 Feed The World? Design, infographics & illustrations: The indigestible truth Miller Design Editor: Rachel Musk 14 Aubrey Manning Obituary Cover image: © Miles Barton/naturepl.com 8 15 Pressing The Panda Stay connected Ramping up the pressure on WWF populationmatters.org 16 Shutting Us Up PopulationMatters Population fatalism PopnMatters 17 ‘Should We Control popnmatters t. 020 8123 9116 World Population?’ e. [email protected] Book review ed. [email protected] 18 Interview: Wendo Aszed a. 135-137 Station Road, London E4 6AG When we plan, we thrive Charity no: 1114109 19 Three Years On 11 WORLD Steve Bown revisits Dandelion Africa 20 Poster: PM Conference POPULATION The Last Elephant In The Room THIS ISSUE 7,671,361,654 WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED READING THIS MAGAZINE PLEASE RECYCLE IT BY PASSING IT ON CONTENTS | PAGES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 © Florence Blondel Florence We want to believe in a positive, progressive future. But unless we reverse population growth soon, it’s simply not going to happen. From the Director The Charm Offensive –“When we plan, we thrive!” Wendo Aszed’s words describe the work wherewithal to deliver actions focused which did not prevent her challenging of Dandelion Africa (p18), the charity she on World Population Day 2019 (July 11th) the predominantly European-educated set up to enable young Kenyan girls to in three continents, with events planned audience with some uncomfortable facts. choose when and how many children to for London, New York and Lagos. Wendo stated that almost 30% of women have; objectives aligned to those of You across Kenya are still ‘cut’ – that is suffer, Before Two, based in Nottinghamshire, Our late Patron, Professor Aubrey as young girls, female genital mutilation. which featured in the last edition of the Manning (p14), was a charming and We were shocked by the statistic, didn’t magazine (PM iss 33 p6). PM is delighted to courteous man. Never happier than want to believe it, didn’t want to hear it support Dandelion Africa’s, ‘Boys for when passing on his knowledge and – hadn’t the Kenyan Government Change’ programme, through our passion for the natural world to others banned the practice in 2011? Yes, simply Empower to Plan initiative (p6), where without ego. He called, politely but driving it underground. As Wendo young men are learning to stand up for plainly, for action to staunch ongoing reiterated at several points in her their sisters’ rights rather than repress biological losses. Surely, he asked in his powerful talk, ‘This is the reality’. A them. Through ‘Boys for Change’ last email to me, reality which campaigners, like Wendo Dandelion Africa is helping young girls and we at Population Matters, must and women escape the still-pervasive, anyone with ‘the speak out about if things are going to misguided and controlling ‘cultural’ briefest of biological change however uncomfortable it may practices of female genital mutilation, make some audiences. child marriage, and multiple pregnancies; thought’ must which are often maintained by older men recognise that human People, particularly the decent, liberal in their communities. folk who attended Wendo’s talk, who population growth support environment and development ‘When we plan, we thrive’ is applicable is ‘a key element’ to organisations, i.e. people like us, want to PM too. At the AGM (p7) in November, to believe in and enable a positive, we set out our summary strategy for the consider? progressive future for everyone. next 3 years. Our plan of action for He went beyond rhetorical questions: But without curbing and stabilising amplifying our voice, persuading others ‘I do feel strongly that PM must not be population growth, you can go whistle to add theirs and putting the population reluctant to offend some people’, he urged. for sustaining human rights and issue where it belongs, at the heart of As we know, many people too readily conserving remnant wildlife. That’s sustainability. Our stated ambition is to and irrationally take offence when faced the reality we must communicate ‘Take PM Global’ over the next 3-5 years. with the facts of human population. to people, whilst promoting the An achievable goal or hubris? The positive, available solutions, not least former, given the level of support our PM trustee, Steve Bown (p19), invited universal access to education and safe, Winter Appeal attracted, with donations Wendo to talk at UCL last year about family planning. Rights as relevant topping our target more than two-fold. Dandelion Africa’s work. In common for the UK as Africa. It will require Many thanks to all of you who with Aubrey, she is someone with great charm and inevitably offending some contributed, providing us with the personal charm and charisma. Qualities people – truly, a charm offensive! populationmatters.org for a sustainable future 3 CONTENTS | PAGES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 The ‘piggy-back’ route An alternative approach to securing a “bespoke” treaty, is to add action on population to existing international agreements. This approach would likely be quicker, although its outcomes would GLOBAL GLOBAL probably be less comprehensive than a dedicated agreement. Our researchers PROBLEM? SOLUTION? identified a possible opportunity to do so in the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), which is currently under review. Like the UNFCCC, the CBD was agreed in 1992. Signatories are required to implement national strategies for protecting Population Matters’ biodiversity. In 2010, the Convention set specific targets for 2020 – none of which stated mission is to referred to human population. The so- called Aichi Targets include halving the generate awareness rate of loss of natural environments and ensuring that the extinction of known and action on population equivalent to threatened species is prevented. As or greater than that on climate change. is the case with the UNFCCC, despite considerable progress, it is currently An update from Alistair Currie, Head looking unlikely that most of these of Campaigns & Communications targets will be met. The CBD is now establishing what the Last year, we were approached by a since the 1980s. It was finalised just post-2020 policy and target landscape US-based population campaigner, Rob 18 months after the International Panel will be. The agreement on this is Harding, with a proposal that we should on Climate Change called for it in 1990. expected at the Conference of the Parties support his call for a United Nations The Convention was, however, less of meeting in China in October 2020. To Framework Convention on Population. an end point than a starting point. Its ensure population is considered and to Rob’s idea was simple: overpopulation specific targets and responsibilities have lay down a marker of our engagement as is a global threat of the gravity of been set by subsequent agreements stakeholders, in December, Population climate change. Following the model (usually known as protocols), including Matters (PM) made a formal submission of the UN’s Framework Convention the 2015 Paris Agreement. As last as part of the consultation process for on Climate Change (UNFCCC) could year’s IPCC 1.5° Report made clear, the “Post-2020” framework. Our transform understanding of the need to the UNFCCC has not yet delivered all submission calls for consideration of the address it, and catalyse the necessary the action needed to meet its goals. introduction of a protocol on human action. Rob’s idea chimed with our Our research has established that population. We shall be developing our mission and our strategic direction frameworks like the UNFCCC are useful work related to the CBD as part of our of travel.
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