News from June
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POPULATION MATTERS SUPPORTERS' UPDATE
JUNE 2021
Director's message
ONLY CONNECT…
Boris Johnson's former adviser Dominic Cummings, giving evidence to MPs,
likened the UK Prime Minister to a "shopping trolley", referring to the
contradictory policy decisions emanating from Number 10 daily. Whilst
Cummings' clear-sightedness and unbiased judgment are questionable, it's
true that recent government policy and statements on international security
issues, overseas aid, girls' education, and family planning have been
careering in all directions.
Back in January, Mr Johnson said it was his "fervent belief" that the best
way to lift communities in developing countries out of poverty was keeping
girls in school. Yet his government's £4.5 billion cut to the UK's aid
budget will result in the grassroots organisations working to keep girls in
education, opening up opportunities for them other than teenage motherhood,
losing funding. According to Marie Stopes International, over 4 million
girls are forced out of school every year across sub-Saharan Africa due to
teenage pregnancy.
Understandably, the UK's 85% cut to its funding of UNFPA, the UN's family
planning agency, and 60% of its support to the UN's children's fund
(Unicef), provoked unprecedented criticism from a UN spokesperson, "These
cuts will be devastating for women and girls and their families across the
world." Particularly for women and girls in the poorest regions of Africa,
which received over 50% of UK Aid previously. Areas that were the Rome
summit's focus on the rise of ISIS/Daesh across the Sahel that Foreign
Secretary Dominic Raab attended last week.
Raab appeared unaware that the region's insecurity and vulnerability to
ISIS are amplified by the twin pressures of a rapidly growing population
and accelerating climate change. Across its million square miles stretching
from the Red Sea to the Atlantic, the Sahel's population is projected to
treble from 100 million people currently to 300 million by 2050. The
projected temperature rise is even more alarming, 3-5 degrees C by 2050, up
to 8 degrees C by 2100.
Fortunately, others in Westminster understand the need for coherent,
connected policymaking. For example, the Environment Audit Committee's
just-released report on biodiversity recognises the critical value of
funding family planning and supporting girls' empowerment for protecting
biodiversity and mitigating geopolitical insecurity. The Committee endorsed
PM's analysis as to that link, referencing our evidence several times.
Lack of opportunity and grinding poverty are the best recruiters for ISIS
– its aspirational ‘Caliphate’ in the Sahel may seem a distant
mirage, but its negative influence on people regionally (especially girls
and women), in reversing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, and
undermining global security, is extensive.
More positively, millions of birds journey via the Palearctic-Africa
migratory system to the UK and Europe each year – their arrival and
survival dependent on sustaining feeding and breeding sites here and in
Africa. Our mutual connections and enlightened, shared interests are clear.
- Robin Maynard, Director, Population Matters
NEWS FROM POPULATION MATTERS
Choice Matters: Our new manifesto
Choice matters, in more than one way. That is why our new Choice Manifesto
allows people from across the world to commit to celebrating small families
and helping to empower others to have the same freedoms. We are excited to
be building one big 'Global Small Family' of choice champions who care
deeply about humanity and our one and only planet, celebrate positive
choices, and recognise that there is more than one definition of 'family'.
Read more [3]
Changing minds and lives in Uganda's fishing communities
We launched our Empower to Plan campaign with Family Medical Point to help
ensure that every woman and young person in Abaita Ababiri, Uganda has free
and safe access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. With your help, we
raised £5,000 to support Family Medical Point in reaching 1,759
community-members and 725 young people in the marginalised fishing
communities along the shores of Lake Victoria.
Read more [4]
World Population Day: PM awards Change Champions
World Population Day takes place on 11 July every year. This year,
Population Matters will be celebrating the good news, with our brand new
Change Champion awards, presented to inspiring people, projects and
campaigns. Keep an eye out for the list of winners on the day. For now,
follow the link and see our campaign video and report from last year's WPD.
Read more [5]
Can we bring birth rates down faster than CO2?
Is it really easier and quicker to reduce fertility rates (the number of
children per woman) than greenhouse gas emissions, and what role does
entertainment media play in achieving a sustainable population? Our
Outreach Coordinator Florence Blondel interviews Bill Ryerson, Founder and
President of the Population Media Center, and Population Matters Expert
Advisor.
Read more [6]
POPULATION
Population Matters statement on UK population estimates for 2020
Figures for the UK's population were recently released - it has now hit 67
million. As PM's director says: "People don't want to be cogs in the growth
machine - while business, policymakers and most economists may see us as
units of labour, taxation and consumption, the rest of us want to lead good
lives in a greener country on a healthy, safer planet."
Read more [7]
ENVIRONMENT
UK parliament committee backs family planning to protect biodiversity
An influential committee in the UK Parliament has called on the Government
to do more to address population and over-consumption as drivers of
biodiversity loss. Its comments, in a highly critical report on the UK
Government’s action so far, reflect and refer directly to evidence
submitted by Population Matters to its enquiry.
Read more [8]
Why we must seize this chance for change
Will life ever be quite the same again? If we’ve learnt anything from the
devastating impact of COVID-19, the answer is NO and according to
conservationists Chris Packham (our Patron) and Megan McCubbin, this opens
up a whole world of opportunity – if we’re brave enough to stand up for
change. In an exclusive interview with Population Matters, they share their
thoughts on what needs to be done.
Read more [9]
Why vegans should promote smaller families
With an increased uptake in plant-based diets mainly for the planet's
benefit, is the consumption of animal products declining? In fact, the
opposite is true, with demand for meat and dairy continuing to rise due to
a rapidly expanding 'global middle class'. Medical doctor and environmental
filmmaker Sofia Pineda Ochoa explains why all vegans should care about our
unsustainable population growth.
Read more [10]
Study: Great apes predicted to lose 90% of homelands in Africa
Disturbing new research shows African great apes could lose up to 94% of
their current range by 2050 due to human population growth and climate
change. Half of the lost territory will be in national parks and other
protected areas. Conservation action must include empowering population
solutions!
Read more [11]
WOMEN'S RIGHTS & SEXUAL HEALTH
More women are saying no to motherhood. Will society ever listen?
"Why don’t we ask the other question: ‘Why are you choosing to have a
child?’ " An excellent article challenging the long-held belief that all
women should bear children. We should celebrate and normalise choosing
childfree and small families.
Read more [12]
About time: UK set to end legal child marriage
Fantastic news as the UK moves to lift the legal marriage age from 16 to
18! Lawmakers said the current law, which allows marriage at 16 with
parental consent, sabotaged girls’ futures and condoned child abuse. More
than 2,740 under-18s were married in England and Wales between 2008 and
2017.
Read more [13]
TAKE ACTION
Do you agree that choice matters?
Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to our Global Small Family.
If you haven't signed up yet, please do and share with your social media
followers. Join the growing family of people around the world who believe
that #ChoiceMatters and who have committed to planning for a small family
size and empowering others to have the same freedom of choice. Sign and
share our Choice Manifesto today!
Join the family [14]
Quote of the month
_"People are scared to talk about changing their behaviours and attitudes
because it’s difficult. But we have to change the narrative – and we
can. We have to work together to reduce consumption, habitat loss and
population.."_
- Megan McCubbin, zoologist, wildlife TV presenter, conservationist and
photographer
135-137 Station Road, London E4 6AG, UK
Registered company no 3019081, Charity 1114109
© 2021 Population Matters
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