Population news from October

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POPULATION MATTERS SUPPORTERS' UPDATE

OCTOBER 2021

Director's message

Earlier this month, we held our ‘Boom or Bust?’ conference,
examining how demographic changes can help develop an economy which
delivers wellbeing and lasting security on a healthy planet. The conference
was accompanied by the launch of our major new report on ageing (see
below), a comprehensive challenge to the prevailing narrative that ageing
populations spell economic disaster, and a call for common sense solutions.

As at any worthwhile conference, there were differences of opinion, fresh
perspectives and positive challenges. But overall, there was much common
ground in our international speakers’ analysis of the issues and their
solutions.

Keynote speaker, Dr Eliya Zulu of the African Institute for Development
Policy, followed up with a warm endorsement,

_"Thank you very much for inviting me to give the keynote to the 2021
Population Matters Conference. The work that Population Matters does is
very critical for achieving sustainable development and you provide an
unparalleled platform for divergent views on a wide range of population,
environment and development issues. …[I] will be happy to explore ways in
which AFIDEP and Population Matters can collaborate on various ventures."_

Dr Leticia Appiah of the National Population Council of Ghana affirmed the
benefits that access to family planning brings for women individually and
societies collectively, “What we really need is to slow population growth
and have zero population growth [everywhere]”.

Putting those statements into practice, we’re partnering with grassroots
Guatemalan organisation Na’leb’ak [3] in supporting adolescent girls in
rural regions to make informed life decisions and choices - over 65,000
pregnancies were registered to girls aged between 10-19 years old in the
first half of this year.

PM will be promoting the additional benefits to our environment at COP26 in
Glasgow, spurred by Lord Adair Turner, former chair of the UK’s Climate
Change Committee, who wrote the foreword to our report on population
ageing, “_It is a facile statement to say that population growth has
really nothing to do with climate change"._

- Robin Maynard, Director, Population Matters

NEWS FROM POPULATION MATTERS

A booming success: our 2021 conference

On 8th October, Population Matters hosted _Boom or Bust_, our first-ever
hybrid in-person and online conference. Addressing the intersection of
population and economics, a truly global cast of speakers – beaming in
from Taiwan, Spain, Ghana, France, the US, UK, and Kenya – brought a wide
variety of fascinating perspectives and areas of expertise.

Read more [4]

Exposing the ageing myth

A major new report by Population Matters busts the myth that a declining
birth rate and ageing population spell economic disaster. '_Silver Linings,
not Silver Burdens_' reveals the benefits of fewer people being born, and
identifies the common-sense policies that will meet the challenges of a
society in which more people are older.

Read more [5]

From flood protection to family planning: Komb Green Solutions

In July, we launched our crowdfunding campaign with the Kenyan
environmental group Komb Green Solutions. After disastrous floods earlier
this year, the park they had created for children and youth was almost
washed away. Their efforts to empower women, girls and crime-involved youth
were in jeopardy but thanks to you, our generous members and supporters, we
were able to lend a hand.

Read more [6]

POPULATION

A quarter of world's population exposed to deadly city heat

A study published in the journal _PNAS_ reveals that exposure to deadly
urban heat has tripled since the 1980s, and now affects nearly a quarter of
all people, due to the combination of rising temperatures and population
growth in urban areas.

Read more [7]

Paul Ehrlich on the population problem and how to solve it

In this interview for the _Nature Solutionaries_ podcast, author of _The
Population Bomb_ and Population Matters Patron Professor Paul Ehrlich and
lays out the failures of the environmental movement and why empowering
women is key.

Listen [8]

ENVIRONMENT

Biodiversity loss risks 'ecological meltdown'

A new assessment released ahead of a key UN biodiversity meeting warns that
the world is at risk of tipping into disastrous ecosystem collapse. It
shows that the UK is in the bottom 10% of the world's most nature-depleted
countries, with only half its biodiversity left, far below the global
average of 75%.

Read more [9]

Jane Goodall on climate change

In this interview for the _Washington Post_, our Patron Dr Jane Goodall
points out that population growth is an important driver of the climate
crisis and stresses the need to overcome the taboo around the issue.

Read more [10]

WOMEN'S RIGHTS & SEXUAL HEALTH

The impact of the UK aid cuts

In November 2020, the UK Government announced a reduction in its foreign
development aid from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%. Global family
planning was one of the areas worst-affected by the cuts – a new report
by the Guttmacher Institute reveals their true cost to women and girls.

Read more [11]

Gender equality: have we made progress?

A new UN report measures the progress made towards gender equality across
all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Due to lack of
investment and major setbacks precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the
overall picture is bleak, with many indicators worsening instead of
improving.

Read more [12]

TAKE ACTION

Become a Choice Ambassador!

Are you a young person interested in promoting ethical and practical
population solutions, uplifting women and girls, and tackling the
environmental crisis? Join our Choice Ambassadors! Some of our Choice
Ambassadors are already doing amazing work campaigning on environmental and
gender issues, and we're very proud to be working with them.

Learn more [13]

Quote of the month

_"Over the next decade, we have a stark choice: to demonstrate the very
best of our natures as Homo sapiens - cooperative, innovative, wise, and
ethical, to learn from mistakes and create better societies - or to go down
with both a bang of conflict and a whimper of bickering, entitlement and
self-interest. That choice is ours. The actions or inactions of individual
leaders in government, communities and businesses in this decade will be
remembered darkly, or hopefully kindly. Everything we know and love is at
stake."_

- World Scientists' Warning Into Action [14] - if you're a scientist,
please sign this important new paper!

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© 2021 Population Matters

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