News from April

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POPULATION MATTERS SUPPORTERS' UPDATE

APRIL 2020

Director's message

If you haven’t already seen it, the new documentary ‘Planet of the
Humans’, written and presented by Jeff Gibbs and produced by Michael
Moore, is probably worth watching. I say ‘probably’, because it makes
depressing viewing – exposing the delusion that all 'renewable energy',
particularly biomass, is 'clean and green'. Even more depressingly, it
reveals the tentacles of the fossil-fuel industry capturing and profiting
from the ‘renewables revolution’. But the film is unfair, inaccurate
and potentially harmful in condemning the whole energy transition movement.
Worse, it ends offering no hope or any real solutions for reducing our
impacts on the planet, when several are readily available: less
fossil-fuel-compromised renewables now on-stream, and as demonstrated by
Project Drawdown, universal access to family planning and education for
girls which would cut more carbon than all on-shore and offshore wind
combined.

Despite its flaws, the film’s ultimate message resonates: tech-fixes will
not curb climate change on their own. Only by managing down our numbers
alongside runaway consumption can we achieve that. The means to do so
ethically exist, but there’s not as much money in encouraging smaller
families, enabling choice and promoting contraception as in manufacturing
allegedly ‘green’ cars, planes and all the associated infrastructure
that maintain the high-energy dependency living standards the developed
world has come to expect. You can read my full review of the film here [3].


- Robin Maynard, Director, Population Matters

NEWS FROM POPULATION MATTERS

Talking population with Ian Anderson

We were grateful to have a chance to sit down with Ian Anderson, frontman
of legendary rock band Jethro Tull and Population Matters supporter, to
discuss population and the environment.

Watch the interview [4]

POPULATION

Overpopulation one of ten greatest threats to humanity

A new report by a group of Australian researchers identifies the ten most
catastrophic threats to human survival, including overpopulation, climate
change, biodiversity loss, and pandemics, and calls for urgent global
action.

Read more [5]

Tackling population to help fight climate change

Our Head of Campaigns Alistair Currie gave a talk about population
solutions on N0CO2's Climate Action Summit video stream for Earth Day.

Watch the video [6]

ENVIRONMENT

Insect numbers down 25% since 1990, global study finds

A major new analysis found a 25% drop in insect abundance across the globe
over the last 30 years, with a particularly alarming rate of decline in
Europe. The suspected culprits are habitat destruction, pesticides, climate
change and light pollution, all of which are exacerbated by continued human
population growth.

Read more [7]

15,000 miles of new roads to be built in tiger habitat by 2050

Only around 4,000 tigers remain in the wild today, and their habitats have
shrunk by 40% over the last 15 years due to the expansion of human
population and infrastructure. A new study reveals the huge threat of
road-building projects to the survival of this iconic species.

Read more [8]

WOMEN'S RIGHTS & SEXUAL HEALTH

Coronavirus and contraception in rural Kenya

"Sexual and reproductive health should be a priority every day" - Wendo
Aszed, Director of Population Matters' Empower to Plan partner Dandelion
Africa, reveals how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting women in rural Kenya.

Read more [9]

Millions of women have no say over what happens to their bodies

Almost half of women in 57 low- to middle-income countries have no
decision-making power regarding their health, contraceptive use and sex
lives, according to a new UN report.

Read more [10]

Quote of the month

_"People on social media joke that nine months from now, the children who
will be born, in some tribes, will be called Corona Andrews, Quarantine
Molo and such like. But the reality is that thousands of women who will not
be able to access contraceptives will have one more child they cannot
afford to feed, one more pregnancy denying them time for productive work
and one more reason to stay in abusive relationships."_

- Wendo Aszed, Executive Director, Dandelion Africa

TAKE ACTION

Read the Journal of Population and Sustainability

Looking for reading material to help pass the lockdown hours? The _Journal
of Population and Sustainability_ is an open access interdisciplinary
journal exploring all aspects of the relationship between human numbers and
environmental issues. Learn about humanity's 'hoofprint' [11] from
Compassion in World Farming's Phil Lymbery, the Center for Biological
Diversity's excellent Endangered Species Condoms initiative [12], and much
more!

Read now [13]

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Registered company no 3019081, Charity 1114109
© 2020 Population Matters

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