Population news from August

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POPULATION MATTERS SUPPORTERS' UPDATE

AUGUST 2021

Director's message

The latest atrocity from Afghanistan, with extremists murdering over 100
people as they desperately sought to get on the last flights out of Kabul
and escape Taliban rule, weighs heavy on the heart.

People’s desperation, given the Taliban’s previous regime of public
executions, stonings, and abuse of women’s rights in particular, was
understandable. Evidenced in the data: during 1996-2001 Afghanistan’s
Total Fertility Rate (average number of children per woman) reached a
40-year high of 7.6. In the Taliban’s absence, it fell to just over 4.
That dramatic downward curve reflects an increase in contraceptive use from
less than 5% of all women under the Taliban to over 20% currently, as well
as in the number of girls in school and women in government.

It’s hard not to see all that as blown away by the bombers. But those
statistics show how quickly new seeds can take root, for people to seize
opportunities, and for the darkness to be dispelled. Yes, the lights are
dimming in Afghanistan, but they’re burning brightly in Colombia, where
PM’s latest Empower to Plan partner, Women for Conservation [3], is
enabling rural women and girls to take control of their own fertility,
choose how many children to have or not, and proactively protect their
local environment, natural resources and wildlife.

PM is researching similar partners in Afghanistan. For now, we can only
support their efforts at a distance. Colombia’s example offers
encouragement, having overcome decades of hostility to deliver benefits to
people and planet.

- Robin Maynard, Director, Population Matters

NEWS FROM POPULATION MATTERS

Boom or Bust: ur 2021 Conference

Places at our landmark conference on 8 October on population and economics
are filling up fast! With _The Economist_'s Emma Duncan, and Gaya
Herrington, the author of an important new study on limits to growth (see
below), now joining our panel of speakers, it promises to be a fascinating
event. Please join us, live in London or online.

Learn more [4]

Does family size matter?

Our Director Robin was featured in a video story by the _Daily Mail_ about
the environmental benefits of choosing smaller families.

Watch video [5]

PM at IUCN Congress

As members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we
are pleased to attend our first World Conservation Congress in early
September. Taking place in Marseille, France, this year, the IUCN Congress
is one of the biggest international conferences dedicated to shaping
conservation policy. If you live near Marseille, why not come visit us at
our stand?

Learn more [6]

Overpopulation denial syndrome

In this article for the _Ecological Citizen_, our Director Robin tackles
'Population Shaming' - the unjustified attribution of dark motivations and
associations to anyone who raises the issue of human overpopulation.

Read more [7]

POPULATION

Too hot for climate change: Limiting population growth

In this article for _The Hill_, former director of the United Nations
Population Division Joseph Chamie challenges the harmful taboo around
population and points out the need to include empowering solutions in
climate action plans.

Read more [8]

"How to feed Nigeria’s population keeps me awake at night"

Nigeria is on track to become the third most populous country by 2050.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo expresses concern about the
huge pressure this rapid growth is placing on already fragile
infrastructures.

Read more [9]

ENVIRONMENT

'Code red for humanity': UN climate report

An important new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) provides a dire warning about the worsening climate crisis. With the
UN Secretary-General calling it a “code red for humanity”, the report
highlights the undeniable human impact upon our planet and shows we must
drastically cut emissions within the next few decades to have a chance of
averting catastrophic warming.

Read more [10]

Heading towards collapse?

Updates to two landmark environmental studies were published in recent
weeks: PM conference speaker Gaya Herrington's examination of the accuracy
of the Club of Rome’s predictions in their bestselling 1972 book 'Limits
to Growth', and a new version of the 2019 'Scientists' Warning of a Climate
Emergency'. Needless to say, neither update offers good news – we must
act fast to avoid dangerous tipping points.

Read more [11]

WOMEN'S RIGHTS & SEXUAL HEALTH

The Sahel: empowering women key to preventing disaster

The Sahel region of Africa is on a dangerous trajectory of rapid population
growth and catastrophic climate warming. Empowering women in this area is
key to saving and improving countless lives. We spoke to Alisha Graves,
Founder & Executive Director of OASIS, which delivers crucial work to
advance education and choice for women and girls in the Sahel.

Read more [12]

The mental health cost of Poland’s abortion ban

Earlier this year, Poland passed a cruel law that makes it illegal for a
woman to get an abortion even in the case of severe foetal
abnormalities.This feature in _Al Jazeera_ reveals the emotional suffering
this near-total ban is inflicting on Polish women.

Read more [13]

TAKE ACTION

Urge COP26 leaders to embrace empowering population solutions

The crucial UN climate change conference, COP26, from 1-12 November in
Glasgow must lead to more action to empower women and girls. Sign our new
petition to COP26 President Alok Sharma MP!

Sign now [14]

Quote of the month

_"Global heating, although ruinous, is not the sole symptom of our present
struggling Earth system but is only one of the many facets of the
accelerating environmental crisis. Policies to alleviate the climate crisis
or any of the other threatened planetary boundary transgressions should not
be focused on symptom relief but on addressing their root cause: the
overexploitation of the Earth."_

- World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency 2021 [15]

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© 2021 Population Matters

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