Two billion fewer people? - July Supporters' Update

Unsubscribe

View in your browser

POPULATION MATTERS SUPPORTERS' UPDATE

JULY 2020

Director's message

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics": a phrase attributed to Mark Twain alluding to the power of statistics to lend weight to shallow or misleading arguments and so requiring deeper enquiry. Both are relevant to PM’s analysis of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) linked to our World Population Day activities. The SDGs are admirable goals, which PM wholeheartedly supports – not least those pertaining to gender equality and access to safe, modern contraception. On the surface, progress seems encouraging – with a greater proportion of people leading lives meeting the SDG targets – but because of ongoing population growth, the actual number of people whose life opportunities fall below those targets has increased.

The perspective applied to statistics can be just as distorting. Reporting of the research published in The Lancet (see below) under crass headlines of "jaw-dropping" fertility declines being a recent example. If that single piece of research, based on mass data crunching, proves correct then we may (emphasis on 'may') see a total population by 2100 around 2 billion lower than the more established projections from the United Nations. Surely to be celebrated, given that at the current population of 7.8 billion, our planet and its ecosystems are showing serious signs of stress? Yet most of the media commentary came via the narrow lens of ‘no population growth, no economic growth’.

Notwithstanding the mainstream media myopia, we marked World Population Day well – connecting with campaigners across the world working on the interrelated issues of population, poverty, consumption and conservation. Our quote of the month from the Global Footprint Network’s (GFN) Laurel Hanscom is just one great take-out from PM’s live panel discussion. On 22 August, PM will mark and publicise GFN’s own ‘world day’, Earth Overshoot Day, the point in the year when humanity starts using up more of our planet’s natural resources than it can sustainably provide. The first Earth Overshoot Day in 1970 fell on 29th December – this year’s lands 130 days earlier. Fifty years ago the global population was 3.6 billion – it has since more than doubled. Now there’s a statistic and its consequent impacts requiring deeper enquiry!

- Robin Maynard, Director, Population Matters

NEWS FROM POPULATION MATTERS

World Population Day 2020: Sustainable development needs a sustainable population

Saturday 11 July marked World Population Day and due to the current health crisis, it was for us the culmination of a series of exciting digital activities. This year our theme and activities centred around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how empowering, choice-based population solutions are key to accelerating progress. From a social media countdown series, to a 24-page report for stakeholders, to a new animation video, to a live panel discussion with experts, we hope our hard work encouraged and inspired people to take action.

Read more and watch the videos

POPULATION

Two billion fewer people?

A new study published in The Lancet made a big media splash by projecting that the global population will peak at 9.7bn in 2064 and be 8.8bn by the end of the century. That's 2bn below the United Nations projection. Can it be true? Population Matters Head of Campaigns and Communications Alistair Currie took a dive into the new figures.

Robin on Radio 4

Our Director Robin spoke about the new projections and the tremendous (yet neglected) benefits of falling fertility rates on BBC Radio 4. Listen from 33:44 onwards.

Listen

ENVIRONMENT

Eating the planet

A new report by EAT reveals that global adoption of current food consumption patterns in G20 countries would ruin our chance of meeting climate and sustainability targets, exceeding the planetary boundary for food-related emissions by almost three-fold and requiring up to seven Earths to support.

Polar bears could go extinct by 2100

According to a new study published in Nature Climate Change, the majority of polar bear populations are likely to collapse by the end of the century if we continue on our current emissions trajectory.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS & SEXUAL HEALTH

The governments controlling women's bodies

Both China and Iran made the headlines recently for two very contrasting examples of a return to the dark ages of controlling women’s wombs. As with other ongoing human rights violations, the international community is not doing enough to end these atrocities. Population Matters Communications Officer Olivia Nater investigates.

Number of women and girls subjected to harmful practices still growing

The latest UNFPA State of the World Population report shows that every year, millions of women and girls across the world are subjected to violent and harmful practices. Due to population growth and stagnating progress towards gender equality, the number of victims is still on the rise.

Quote of the month

"I think it’s a false dichotomy that you talk about
one or the other… you have to talk about consumption, and you have to talk about population. They go hand in hand, and there are different solutions for different parts of the world."

- Laurel Hanscom, CEO, Global Footprint Network

TAKE ACTION

Join us!

World Population Day 2020 would not have been as successful without the financial support of our members. Our membership provides the fuel for our campaigns and plays a key role in raising awareness of the population issue and our work. The more people join us, the more effective we can be in influencing international agreements like the Sustainable Development Goals. You can become a member for as little as £2.50 a month - the price of a coffee!

Yes I'd like to join