A milestone worth celebrating?

Unsubscribe

View in your browser

Dear John,

I turned 30 this year. My birthday was in late February and I can’t really recall how I spent the day. I know it wasn’t particularly special, as the UK was still subject to fairly strict lockdown rules because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

And maybe that’s what’s bothering me: I turned 30 during a global pandemic.

I should have been reveling in the passing of time and reaching that innately human coming-of-age milestone – but we were in the midst of an international catastrophe that we (ultimately) orchestrated.

So here I am four months later, tongue-in-cheek refusing to be 30 until I can celebrate with my family and friends.

But what I’d really love to celebrate is something bigger than that.

Because this isn’t really about me.

This is about your life, your family, your friends.

It’s about all of humanity and our collective potential to do better. Be better. Live better.

It’s about urgently addressing the environmental and social crises that we and our planet are facing, acting on inequalities of gender, of race, of access to healthcare – whether it’s life-saving vaccinations or access to contraception when it’s wanted.

It’s about the choices we make, the stuff we consume, the well-being of everyone and the natural world that enables us to be here. Enables us to breathe.

It’s about creating a better world for the generations that follow us. Because we can. It’s possible.

Together, we can make 2050 a milestone on which we look back in wonder.

In 30 years’ time it is possible to celebrate what we achieved:

We’ll celebrate the voices we heard, the changes we made, the women we empowered.

We’ll congratulate ourselves on implementing positive solutions, making better choices and using the technology that was at our fingertips.

We’ll see the benefit of using global resources sustainably and equitably.

And we’ll marvel at a planet that’s healthy and flourishing.

We can all play our part in making a better future possible. We just have to choose.

I still have hope – and think you do too.

And perhaps on my 60th birthday I will truly have something to celebrate.

Please give to our 30th anniversary appeal

Thank you for your generosity and helping make a better future possible.

Izi Clery
Fundraising Manager

P.S. You can donate in other ways, including by sending a cheque made payable to ‘Population Matters’, with your name, address and "30 years appeal" on the back to: FREEPOST Population Matters.