By Sarkadi Zsolt, translated and shortened by The Overpopulation Project TOP assisting researcher, Patrícia Dérer, was recently interviewed for the Hungarian newspaper, 444. The article, shortened and translated to English, includes highlights from her interview where she discusses the conditional nature of population projections, the link between population and biodiversity, the declining population of eastern … Continue reading More and more people living on the planet is cause for concern
Category: Family Planning
Fix the climate with smaller families
By Ashley Berke Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are at an all time high. That growth tracks explosive world population growth, which is the greatest driver of climate change and a threat multiplier. The Green New Deal has justifiably generated excitement and enthusiasm among people who believe its goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero over … Continue reading Fix the climate with smaller families
Family Planning for forests and people – the success story of Costa Rica
By Patrícia Dérer Costa Rica is a country of exceptionally rich and well-protected biodiversity. It is a solid democracy where people live long, relatively healthy and happy lives while leaving a small ecological footprint. Together with its good and improving environmental performance and overall well-being, the country is characterized by a below replacement fertility level, … Continue reading Family Planning for forests and people – the success story of Costa Rica
Low fertility in South Korea: a springboard for social change and conservation
By Jenna Dodson In the 1960s and 70s, South Korea experienced one of the fastest fertility declines in the world, halving the number of children born per woman from over 6 to less than 3 in just 18 years. In large part, this was due to early government recognition that fertility reduction is a component … Continue reading Low fertility in South Korea: a springboard for social change and conservation
Review of “Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline” Part 1
By John McKeown Empty Planet moves confidently from an optimistic premise to unwarranted conclusions. It has been reviewed favourably by Steven Pinker, The Wall Street Journal and the New Statesman, among others. Its premise is that world population will peak far lower and sooner than the UN forecasts, and that because of a faster-than-expected decline in … Continue reading Review of “Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline” Part 1
Overpopulation during my lifetime of eighty years
With a focus on fifty-six years of advising governments on policies and programs to achieve population stabilization By Bob Gillespie, President, Population Communication In 1938, when I was born, the global population was 2.2 billion. Today there are 7.7 billion. A child born today, who lives to 80, will witness 5.5 billion more deaths of humans … Continue reading Overpopulation during my lifetime of eighty years
The Iranian miracle: The most effective family planning program in history?
By Patrícia Dérer In the second part of our Population Policy Case study series, following Indonesia, The Overpopulation Project Team examines the history of population policies in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran stands out for lowering its fertility in a very short time without coercion. The total fertility rate dropped from almost 6 in … Continue reading The Iranian miracle: The most effective family planning program in history?
“Two Children Are Enough” – “Dua Anak Cukup”
Indonesia: Population Policy Case Study 1 By Jenna Dodson Population policies[1] of the late 20th century played a central role in the global decline in fertility rates1. These policies mobilized resources to enact policies aimed at reducing fertility by widening contraception provision and changing family-size norms. In the first of a series of Positive Population … Continue reading “Two Children Are Enough” – “Dua Anak Cukup”
Solutions to overpopulation and what you can do
By The Overpopulation Project Here at The Overpopulation Project, we try to keep a positive outlook. Although many environmental trends are grim, there exist clear paths forward toward a more sustainable world: one where people steward resources for the future and share habitat and resources generously with other species. Recently, a correspondent wrote challenging us … Continue reading Solutions to overpopulation and what you can do
Changing social norms and behaviors for the sake of the planet and people
By Patrícia Dérer “It’s just a snowflake in the avalanche, just a drop in the ocean”– we hear these arguments time and again in the fight against global challenges with individual actions. And yet, thousands of environmental activists are working on changing our social norms and individual behaviors with campaigns aiming to create a better … Continue reading Changing social norms and behaviors for the sake of the planet and people