The Overpopulation Project
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Too many people consuming too much
Tag: Population Policies
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Population growth is still rapid. Has the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) forgotten family planning programs?
Projected population growth of about 2 billion in Africa and elsewhere contributes to poverty, impoverished reproductive health, and degradation of environment and climate. In a new publication in the journal Reproductive Health we argue that this unsustainable growth and the crucial role of family planning are neglected by among others the UN Population Fund. We…
6 comments on Population growth is still rapid. Has the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) forgotten family planning programs? -
Is Legal Abortion Required for Sustainable Fertility?
Our planet can’t sustain an ever-growing number of humans, but many countries have already reached below-replacement birth rates enabling a future rebalancing of humans with nature. While modern contraceptive technologies deservedly take most of the credit, how important has abortion access been? by Richard Grossman, MD, MPH All readers should be aware that globally, humans…
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Making sense of Trump’s immigration crackdown
Two weeks ago, the latest crackdown on a U.S. “sanctuary city” led to tragedy, after a federal agent shot a protester to death in Minneapolis. We interview Karen Shragg, a Minnesota native and long-time overpopulation activist, on the current situation in the Twin Cities and where we go from here. by The Overpopulation Project Over…
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Population stability could improve UK living standards
With a population nearing 70 million, the UK is feeling the pressure on the housing and job markets. Stabilising the population would ease this pressure, giving more people access to affordable housing and strengthening wages, utlimately raising the quality of life for UK citizens. by R. M. Smilie Introduction The United Kingdom (UK) has rarely…
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Thirsty for Growth: How Arizona is Trading Water for Sprawl
Touted as a conservation success story, new legislation in Arizona is actually a ploy to resume unsustainable development in areas that are running out of water. It foolishly seeks to override hard physical limits with paper water credits, displacing wildlife and farmland in service to sprawl. by Phil Cafaro In June 2025, the Arizona Department…
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The Carl Wahren papers are now available at Sweden’s National Archives
The Overpopulation Project has been ranked as one of the 10 best demography blogs of 2025 by FeedSpot. Thank you to all our readers for engaging with and sharing our work. For researchers working on historical population issues and interested lay persons, the Carl Wahren papers are a gold mine. See examples below, described by…
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Rethinking Population Shrinkage in the Nordic Countries
Population degrowth is a necessity to achieve a sustainable world. A new policy brief for the Nordic countries urges policymakers to rethink their commitment to continued growth and instead embrace the reality of demographic degrowth. By Pernilla Hansson Many countries around the globe are set to experience population decrease, with several dozen already doing so.…
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A new definition of global overpopulation, explained and applied
Some environmentalists believe current environmental problems can be addressed successfully without reducing human numbers, while others disagree. Which side is right? Our new working paper tries to get to the bottom of the matter. by Philip Cafaro Recent years have brought a cascade of bad environmental news from around the world: melting glaciers and acidifying…
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High fertility in low-income settings: the cruelty of unfettered capitalism
Abrupt as they may seem, recent changes to US aid policies are consistent with the neoliberal economic ideology long championed by many Republicans, and embraced by many Democrats, since the Reagan presidency. Family planning was one of its casualties, according to Colin Butler. by Colin Butler The re-election of US President Donald Trump appears to…
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Canceling the Demographic and Health Surveys and Ending USAID’s role in Family Planning and Reproductive Health Programs: Why it Matters
In a world with changing demographic trends, does the retreat by the U.S. government from international population and family planning programs matter? Our answer is a resounding yes. by Win Brown and Karen Hardee We are demographers who earned our graduate degrees in the 1980s, when academic programs in population and family planning were booming.…
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Pro-life = Anti-choice
Today coercion is much more prevalent globally in pronatalist policies that increase population size than it is in family planning policies that decrease fertility and limit population. For this and other reasons, the ‘pro-life’ movement is often anti-life in its consequences. by Jan Greguš, Masaryk University, Czech Republic When discussing population policies, many worry about…
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“America Needs More People”
That’s according to the editorial board of the New York Times, arguing for expanding immigration into the United States. Based on comments, most of their subscribers disagree. by Philip Cafaro By insisting that enforcing immigration limits is immoral, liberals in the U.S. have twice helped elect Donald Trump President. Facing a second Trump administration, some…
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The impact of immigration policy on future U.S. population size
Immigration will be the key factor determining whether populations in the developed world increase or decrease over the coming century. Newly published policy-based population projections illustrate this for the United States. by Philip Cafaro Population size helps determine human societies’ environmental impacts. Given that immigration is a key factor influencing the size of human populations,…
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A genuine humanity
Do modern societies have a realistic path toward living in harmony with nature? How can population activists combine compassion and effective advocacy? We invite your answers to these difficult yet necessary questions. by Gaia Baracetti Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian photographer. His striking black-and-white photographs, taken during his long, immersive travels to forgotten or war-ravaged…
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Court ruling could lead to an environmental impact statement on US immigration policy
United States law requires that important federal policies and projects undergo environmental impact statements. While immigration policy has never been subjected to such an analysis, that might be about to change, thanks to a recent court ruling. by Philip Cafaro The U.S. National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) of 1969 mandates that any federal policy or…
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Joseph Speidel on Carl Wahren and the early days of family planning
Recent years have seen a concerted effort to rewrite post-war family planning efforts as one big racist, sexist, imperialist conspiracy. It is now important, as the last people who worked on these campaigns pass from the scene, to reflect honestly yet fairly on their work. Here Céline Delacroix, a senior fellow with the Population Institute,…
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Trump or Harris: the implications for U.S. immigration policy
Who would you choose if you could vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election? Who Americans choose has important implications for people around the world. Unfortunately, neither major party candidate is committed to ending U.S. population growth or creating an environmentally sustainable society. by Philip Cafaro Once every four years, I attend to my civic…
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‘Climate refugees’ and the question of limiting immigration: a response to Migration in Hotter Times
A recent discussion paper on climate refugees, Migration in Hotter Times: Humanity at Risk, does much to muddy the water without presenting practical solutions. by Jane O’Sullivan and Philip Cafaro Immigration is a deeply divisive topic, even among population activists. It is not uncommon to have a strong commitment to global population stabilisation while believing…
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UN World Population Day 2024 focuses on anything but world population
This year for World Population Day, the United Nations champions data collection, because ‘everyone counts’. What they choose not to measure is more telling. by Jane O’Sullivan This World Population Day, we see the UNFPA celebrating 30 years of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action. Yes, it’s been 30 years…
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New US population projection tool under construction
TOP is developing a new population projection tool for the United States, based on US Census Bureau methodology and data. Check it out! You can run your own US population projections under different fertility and immigration scenarios — and help us improve the projection tool with your suggestions. by Philip Cafaro One of our more…
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Time to vote!
Immigration is proving to be a hot topic in the run up to EU parliamentary elections. While the focus has been on immigration’s cultural and social effects, changes in immigration policy could also impact future population numbers across Europe. This has consequences for citizens, the environment and ecosystems. by Philip Cafaro According to the European…
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Meet the Nigerian Teacher Who Advocates for Family Planning
Coming from a family of seven children, Chidera Benoit knows better than anyone how challenging it is to grow up in a big family in Nigeria and achieve a good living standard. Convinced that Nigerian women and men should be free to decide their family size, this young and motivated teacher and Executive Director of…
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New State of the World Population report conceals family planning as UNFPA’s most successful product
Thirty years ago, the Population Fund of the United Nations (UNFPA) started drifting away from its original objectives focused on reducing population growth. Its new State of the World Population Report illustrates how this drift undermines its mission to help the world’s poor. by Jan van Weeren and Jane O’Sullivan This year’s State of the…
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Carl Wahren (1933-2024), In Memoriam
We note the passing of an admired leader in the field of family planning, our colleague and friend Carl Wahren. To commemorate his life and work, we share a new, wide-ranging interview with Carl about population policies and the changing role of the UN in international family planning. by The Overpopulation Project It is with…
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Overpopulation Is Still a Huge Problem: An Interview with Jane O’Sullivan
Despite reports that world population is peaking and fertility rates dropping, the human population is still growing at an unrelenting and unsustainable pace. In an interview by Richard Heinberg, Jane O’Sullivan sets the record straight. By Richard Heinberg, originally published by Resilience.org In February, I interviewed biochemist Chris Bystroff, whose peer-reviewed analysis suggests that world…
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The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) at 30 – Let’s Address the Unfinished Agenda
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, a watershed event in international population and reproductive health policy. It’s a good time to reflect on its legacy. by Joseph Speidel and Jane N. O’Sullivan The ICPD Programme of Action (POA) has served as a…
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A new sustainability initiative of the Swiss People’s Party
While population growth lies at the root of many environmental problems, concerned citizens often feel disempowered from addressing it. A popular initiative in Switzerland may provide a blueprint for activists in other developed countries. by Roland Schmutz After Swiss voters narrowly rejected joining the European Economic Area in 1992, the European Union and Switzerland began…
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Pronatalism on the Rise to Counter Growing Push for Gender Equality
Pronatalists try to present their ideology as promoting the security of the family, but it is linked to the far-right agenda, uses falsified data to prove their points, and counteracts gender equality. By Nandita Bajaj There’s an insidious new tactic emerging for selling right-wing ideology to wider audiences, evident in [the September 2023] Budapest Demographic…
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The United Nations Population Fund Promotes Population Denial
Humanity heading for 9 billion and the UN’s chief population organization says forget about numbers. What’s going on? by Madeline Weld November 15, 2022. That’s the day the world population reached 8 billion, according to the UNFPA, the United Nations organization whose original raison d’être was to help end population growth. The UNFPA (reflecting its…
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Ecological Footprint and Sustainable Population
With humanity currently in overshoot, societal changes must be enacted to return to sustainable levels. While either a country’s ecological footprint or population size could be altered to achieve the necessary level, combined efforts on both fronts would be most effective. By Denis Garnier, president of Démographie Responsable A sustainable population corresponds to the total…
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Declining population and GDP growth
There is a general idea among businesspeople and mainstream economists that a decreasing population is not good for the economy. Our empirical work on countries experiencing population decline suggests that a declining population can bring about changes that reduce unemployment, increase wages, and lead to a larger real GDP per capita. by Theodore Lianos and…
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How to Fix the Planet, the Easy Way
To avoid disastrous deterioration of Earth’s climate and biosphere, humanity has to reduce its demands on nature. Fewer births and a falling population is no quick fix, but compared with voluntary austerity, it has many more up-sides than down-sides. by Jon Austen Scientists are reporting that there is an existential threat to life on Earth.…
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Strange bedfellows of sustainability: How identity politics obstructs the future of wilderness
Preserving wild places is key to protecting Earth’s biodiversity. In the United States and elsewhere, identity politics undermines the commitment to do so. by Karen Shragg Preserving wilderness is in the best interests of all of us, especially the four-legged and two-legged creatures with whom we share our countries. When people give other species room,…
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Delusional population projections lead us sleepwalking into catastrophe
Recent United Nations population projections paint a comforting picture of immanent population stabilization. But what if they are wrong? Global population growth does not appear to be slowing as quickly as UN demographers have predicted, making widespread famines and run-away climate change more likely in the coming decades. By Jane O’Sullivan The Elon Musks of…
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Human population reduction is not a quick fix for environmental problems
Then again, neither is anything else. The long lag time between fertility reduction and population stabilization is a key reason we need to address excessive human numbers sooner rather than later. by Phil Cafaro There’s an argument one often hears that goes like this: “sure, population is important. But we need to reduce our environmental…
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Gattopardi and cheap labor
Reflections from Italy on the wicked problem of unregulated and unregulatable immigration into Western Europe. by Gaia Baracetti I could never understand what animal exactly the gattopardo was supposed to be. A leopard? A cheetah? A mythical beast? For sure, none of those roams my country. But I, like most Italians, always understood the meaning…
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Recent blog posts
- The role of mortality in fertility transition studies
- Population growth is still rapid. Has the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) forgotten family planning programs?
- The Most Appropriate Response to Falling Birthrates? Embrace Them
- New paper defends a pragmatic definition of overpopulation
- Because everyone else is (not) doing it: How social pressures may be the key to understand family size preferences
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