2018 A NNUAL REPORT 50 YEARS OF CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES 1968 Zero Population Growth (ZPG) is founded World population growth rate peaks at 2.1% per year (today it is 1.1%) 1969 United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) becomes operational World Bank Department of Health, Nutrition, and Population becomes operational 1970 Earth Day is celebrated for the first time Title X family planning program for low-income Americans is created Humans’ ecological footprint (amount of resources we use) begins to exceed the earth’s biocapacity (ability to provide resources and absorb waste) 1972 Birth control becomes legal for anyone, regardless of marital status, thanks to Baird v. Eisenstadt Supreme Court case USAID’s Office of Population begins supporting reproductive health training and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) 1973 Abortion becomes legal in all 50 states in Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case Helms Amendment to Foreign Assistance Act prohibits USAID from promoting or funding abortion 1974 World population reaches 4 billion World Population Conference in Bucharest, organized by the UN and attended by representatives of 135 countries 1974 declared World Population Year 1975 Loretta Lynn’s song “The Pill” is released ZPG creates Population Education (PopEd) to bring population studies into K-12 classrooms 1978 First home pregnancy testing kit is marketed First baby is born from use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Oldham, England 1980 China enacts its coercive one-child policy 1982 USAID issues policy paper stating that family planning programs will be based on fundamental principles of voluntarism and informed choice 1984 International Conference on Population is held in Mexico City President Reagan announces his disastrous “Mexico City Policy,” aka Global Gag Rule 1985 Scientists confirm hole in ozone layer 1986 President Reagan withdraws all funding for UNFPA 1987 World population reaches 5 billion UNFPA changes name from United Nations Fund for Population Activities to United Nations Population Fund, keeps original acronym 1988 Annual population change peaks at 93 million (today it grows by about 82 million people each year) United Nations Environment Program establishes Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess risks associated with human-induced climate change 1988 Annual population change peaks at 93 million (today it grows by about 82 million people each year) United Nations Environment Program establishes Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess risks associated with human-induced climate change 1989 World Population Day (July 11) is established 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) takes place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 1993 President Clinton rescinds Global Gag Rule 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) convenes in Cairo 1997 ZPG hosts its first annual Capitol Hill Days, bringing 125 activists to Washington, D.C., for a weekend of advocacy training followed by visits with members of Congress The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating junkyard of mostly plastic debris stretching hundreds of miles across the North Pacific, is discovered 1998 WHO creates Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR) 1999 World population reaches 6 billion 2000 World leaders convene at Millennium Summit to develop Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) World Bank endorses 1994 Cairo Programme of Action 2001 President Bush reinstates the odious Global Gag Rule Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are announced; they do not include reproductive health 2002 ZPG changes its name to Population Connection USAID Office of Population/Reproductive Health formally establishes Population- Environment program so foreign aid for family planning can be used “in areas where population growth threatens biodiversity or endangered species” 2005 Reproductive health targets are added to Millennium Development Goals 2006 Former Vice President Gore releases An Inconvenient Truth, bringing international attention to climate change China surpasses United States as world’s largest carbon emitter 2007 Total carbon emissions from developing nations exceed those of industrialized countries IPCC releases its 4th assessment report, noting human-caused climate change is “unequivocal” 2009 President Obama rescinds Global Gag Rule World hunger reaches historic high of 1 billion people 2010 Global ecological footprint is 1.5 earths (50% larger than in 1970) 2011 World population reaches 7 billion PopEd releases its new World of 7 Billion curriculum and video contest 2014 Atmospheric levels of global CO2 exceed 400 ppm at Mauna Loa, HI recording station, the highest greenhouse gas concentration in human history 2017 Trump defunds UNFPA and imposes an expanded version of the Global Gag Rule 2018 Trump administration proposes Domestic Gag Rule affecting Title X — the nation’s family planning program for low-income individuals Population Connection celebrates its 50th anniversary and the 250,000 members over the years who have worked tirelessly toward global population stabilization .