The Environment - Why is controlling population good for the environment?

Being finite implies limits. The attempt to calculate how many people the Earth can support goes back a long way. Most of the figures were little more than guesstimates. Recently, however, ecological foot printing has brought a new discipline to the process. The results are alarming. Currently, humankind is "overshooting" the biological capacity of the planet by 50%.* By the 2030s, on present trends, we will require two planets to satisfy our needs. The result of this mismatch is the environmental crisis we see all around us - an overheating atmosphere, disappearing forests, vanishing wildlife, growing resource shortages. And, of course, the impact
of all of these individual problems on humanity, particularly in poorer countries.

There are two fundamental causes of overshoot -how many of us there are and how much we each consume. For the first time in history, ecological foot printing allows us to say with reasonable accuracy what human numbers the planet can sustain.

Population Matters is the leading group campaigning on population matters in the UK. Our role ranges from generating ideas to lobbying MPs. We have recently achieved major successes in raising the profile of population - for instance, commissioning research before the Copenhagen climate change summit which showed that contraception is a far more cost-effective method of reducing carbon emissions than green technologies like wind and solar. But our aims go beyond that. We want the government to set out a national strategy spelling out how the UK might achieve a sustainable population. We want policies that encourage responsible parenting. And we want people to take the planet into account when they make decisions about family size.

Population Matters
For a sustainable future

Bittern: other species that have made comeback from extinction
A rare good news story: There have been several species that have come back from the brink of��extinction. Here are some examples. Dormice and Water voles: Two of Britain’s best-loved countryside mammals,��are recovering from the brink of extinction thanks to conservation�� programmes to save them. Both animals are well known through popular��fiction: the dormouse was immortalised in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland��and Ratty in Wind in the Willows is a water vole. Intensive farming�� techniques, pollution and climate change had threatened to wipe out both��species across much of England. Bumblebees:��The five most threatened bumblebees in England have made an unprecedented��comeback in the South East this year thanks to environmental work by��farmers. The large garden bumblebee, the shrill carder bee, the red shanked��carder bee, the moss carder bee and the brown banded carder bee are all��considered under threat. The species have suffered from intensive farming,��that means there are less wildflowers and the spread of towns and cities. Farmland��birds: Endangered species of countryside birds are staging a��dramatic comeback on farms taking part in a pioneering conservation�experiment. Even fast-disappearing species such as yellowhammer and house��sparrow are flourishing on the farms involved. More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8736663/Bittern-other-species-that-have-made-comeback-from-extinction.html and: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8735358/Bittern-rare-birds-make-come-back-as-breeding-swells-population.html �
Why Marie Stopes International is fighting to prevent unsafe abortion in South Africa
Glenda Bateman, a Marie Stopes International nurse in South Africa, saw the consequences of an unsafe abortion first hand when a young woman flagged her car down, desperate to get help for her 19-year-old sister. The track was too narrow to drive down, so Glenda left her car and ran to find a young woman in a house. She was horrified by what she saw. Lying in agony, Nosipho had inserted a wire coat hanger into her cervix in an attempt to terminate her pregnancy. Nosipho was bleeding heavily so time was precious. Glenda carried the young woman on her back to her car then drove her to hospital, where they found out that Nosipho had got septicaemia (more commonly known as blood poisoning) as a result of her unsafe abortion. Sadly, Nosipho had lost so much blood and the infection was so severe that she died. Nosipho?s other two other children now have to live without a mother. Glenda explained: ?Nosipho was prepared to take this risk with her health so she could finish her education, get a job and be able to look after the children she had already. I don?t want what happened to Nosipho to happen to anyone else.? Unfortunately, what Glenda saw isn?t unusual. It?s estimated that around 47,000 women die every year because of unsafe abortions ? a staggering 13% of all maternal deaths ? and more than 245,000 unsafe abortions are estimated to have taken place in South Africa alone. Women all over the world use extreme measures to end their pregnancy either because the law doesn?t allow them to access safe services, or because they don?t know where to turn for help and support. More: http://www.mariestopes.org/News/International/Glenda%60s_story~_Why_we%60re_fighting_to_prevent_unsafe_abortion_in_South_Africa.aspx
German women opt for more than one child ? or else none at all
German women who decide to have children are� increasingly opting for more than one child, while at the same time� the number deciding to remain completely childless is also on the� rise.�Prominent German women like tennis great Steffi Graf, 42, with� two, and the model Heidi Klum, 38, with four, are indicative of the� trend. ‘The gap between childless women and those with several children� has been widening for the past 20 years,’ says German demographics� researcher Ralf Ulrich. Germany saw a mini baby boom in 2010, with the average number of� children per woman rising slightly from 1.36 to 1.39, the highest� level in 21 years. This is good news for those concerned about a� declining and ageing population with growing concern about who will� look after the aged and pay their pensions in the years ahead. From currently just under 82 million, the German population is� expected to shrink to 74 million by 2050, according to the Statistics� Bureau in Wiesbaden, although there are more pessimistic forecasts� that the population could decline precipitately to 60 million over� the same period. According to a survey conducted by the Matthias Horx institute� that specialises in future studies, around 15 per cent of German� women and men do not want children at all, while 54 per cent of those� asked between the ages of 16 and 35 would like to have two children. Andreas Steinle, the institute’s head, believes this indicates� that: ‘The birth�rate will rise slowly in the years ahead, but this� is an extremely drawn-out process.’ The more prosperous regions in the country, for example around the� major cities of Frankfurt and Munich, are already showing this trend. Frankfurt, scorned by many Germans as the city of cold finance and� high crime rates, has turned into a city of families. The birth rate� rose more rapidly in the banking capital than anywhere else in� Germany between German reunification in 1990 and 2009. Second place in a survey of 412 municipalities conducted by the� official German demographics institute was taken by Munich. ‘Frankfurt offers good job�opportunities and for this reason� attracts young families,’ Steinle says. ‘And once one child is there,� a second soon follows.’ He believes a city like Frankfurt offers well� educated women more opportunities to find the right job, and to� combine this with having a family. The flip side of the coin is that a fifth of all women aged� between 40 and 45 were childless at the end of 2009, according to the� survey. And the trend here is also upward. More: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/lifestyle/life/features/article_1660314.php/German-women-opt-for-more-than-one-child-or-else-none-at-all
UK abortions reflects poor sexual health
In the UK, one in five pregnancies are terminated. This indicates that a significant proportion, up to one third on some estimates, are unplanned, of which many are unwanted. The reasons for Britain’s high rate of unplanned pregnancies are complex. Sexual health and relationship education could be improved, say everyone from the Youth Parliament to the National Association of Head Teachers; the Department for Education is currently consulting on this. The well-being of our children is low compared with other countries. Concern has been expressed over a sexualised culture, while high alcohol consumption doesn’t help. The provision of family planning services is highly variable, with limited use of more reliable long acting reversible contraception. So, improving reproductive health educations and services is important. At the same time, we need to assert women’s right to terminate pregnancies if they feel it is not the right time for them to bear and bring up a child. The alternative is not in their interest, that of children or that of society.
Population growth causes planning pressure
The National Housing Federation talks of the “chronic under-supply of housing” in the context of unprecedented developmental pressure on green spaces and proposed relaxation in planning laws. However, markets are composed of supply and demand. England is the most densely populated country in Europe. Given that the UK is experiencing its highest rate of population growth for fifty years, with an estimated ten million more citizens over the next fifteen years, should we not also be talking about, and addressing, our chronic over-supply of people? Simon Ross Chief Executive
David Cameron ?won?t back abortion advice change?
David Cameron “cannot support” an attempt by a Conservative MP to change the rules on the advice that can be offered to women seeking abortions. The PM’s office said he was sympathetic to Nadine Dorries’ view that women should be offered independent advice. But he was concerned the planned amendment to the Health Bill would prevent abortion providers like Marie Stopes from giving counselling as well. Ms Dorries claims such clinics have a financial motive to encourage abortion. At present, women seeking an abortion need the consent of two doctors, which can be obtained through an NHS clinic or GP surgery, or at a private provider, like Marie Stopes or the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), affiliated with the NHS. In both cases, staff have a duty to provide counselling to the women who use them – and under Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guidelines that advice should be impartial, objective and unbiased. Ms Dorries’ amendment – which is also supported by Labour backbencher Frank Field – would remove that duty from Marie Stopes and BPAS. It says the NHS – specifically GPs – should provide “independent information, advice and counselling services for women requesting termination of pregnancy” – and it defines “independent” as an organisation that does not itself provide abortions. There are no other stipulations about who those independent bodies could be and pro-choice campaigners say they could be faith-based groups morally opposed to abortion, who will seek to persuade women that going ahead with one would be a sin. Ms Dorries’ amendment is set to be discussed by MPs in the Commons next week. Downing Street said the prime minister may not be there for the debate, but if he was, he would vote against Ms Dorries’ amendment. Number 10 also stressed that it was a free vote and no pressure was being applied to Conservative MPs to vote in a particular way. More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14745675
Our demand for metals could cost us the Earth
Have you noticed that mining is increasingly getting up people’s noses? Globally, more communities are fighting it. Gaggles of poor villagers are taking on well-connected, cashed-up companies representing the brutish but powerful foundation of the globalised free market system. You have to admire their style. An aerial view of the environmental damage caused by tin mining in Indonesia’s Bangka Belitung province.�� Photograph: Stringer/Indonesia/Reuters Take Sumba, eastern Indonesia, which is currently pocked with the telltale signs of gold exploration. Its seams, Australian Hillgrove Resources says, are rich and promising. The local people’s response? Consistent riots and outrage. As they see it, gold mining threatens their land, water, culture ? their very being. It usually takes about 691,000 litres (almost 700 cubic meters) of water to produce one kilo of glitter. In the necklace of dry eastern Indonesian islands that hang delicately above Australia, water is more precious than gold. Australian behemoth BHP, which recently posted a A$22.5bn (�15bn) profit, ceded the licence after local protests showed no sign of abating. Hillgrove cannot say it wasn’t warned. On Palawan, a glistening gem of an island in the Philippines, a story all too familiar in Asia is also unfolding. A rich and powerful Forbes-listed airline magnate, Lucio Tan, in partnership with a UK mining giant Toledo Nickel, wants to mine one of Asia’s last significant old growth forests (thus reducing significant carbon sequestration potential) to take advantage of record prices for the nickel needed to run hybrid cars and satisfy our addiction to gadgets. But the tech-savvy indigenous people would rather have trees. On the Philippine island of Luzon, mining companies with names like health resorts, Oceana and Oxiana, are both facing opposition from the locals. In Australia, things are no better. A random news sample indicates that farmers, not known for their radicalism, have lately been sitting resolutely on folding chairs bearing placards against coal seam mining. Western Australian farmers were told to remove signs opposing an iron mine threatening to sap water needed for crops and livestock. More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/01/environment-ethics-mining
Immigration is a Major Factor in the Housing Shortage
A study published by Migrationwatch today (Briefing Paper No 7.13), finds that immigration was responsible for almost 40% of the growth in households between 2001 and 2008. Looking ahead, 36% of new households will, according to official projections, be a result of immigration so we will have to build, on average, 200 homes a day for the next 25 years just to house the extra population arising from immigration. Even if house building were to increase by 25% over the current level to 200,000 a year, there would be a shortage of around 800,000 homes by 2033 – equivalent to the number of homes in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham combined. Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said: “As we saw earlier this week political correctness has dictated that the construction and planning industry should not refer to the massive impact of immigration on housing. It is not, of course, the only factor in household formation but it is a major factor accounting for 36% of new households over the next 25 years. It is also one of the few factors that the government ought to be able to control.� It is high time that we faced up to the huge impact of immigration on housing and to the severe consequences for our environment of continued mass immigration”. Source: http://news.migrationwatch.org.uk/2011/08/immigration-is-a-major-factor-in-the-housing-shortage.html?
2109: a life of equality ? but no polar bears
What kind of world is it that ensures that women are paid the same as men? One very different from our own, it seems. The Chartered Management Institute reckons it will take 98 years for us to reach pay parity ? by which time our planet looks set to undergo some radical changes. Robots should finally be smart enough to liberate us from mundane chores ? and space tourism will be old news, as will planetary exploration. Instead we will begin reaching out beyond our solar system to neighbouring stars, using millions of tiny nanoships to scout for suitable planets, and giant solar sails to carry us there. And we will use clean nuclear fusion to meet all our energy needs. At least that’s according to futurologist Michio Kaku, whose book Physics of the Future attempts to predict what our world will look like a century from now. But while this may still all sound somewhat far-fetched (and a tad familiar) we may actually find ourselves hoping he’s right, not least because of how crowded our planet will become. For, while it’s still possible that our global population level may actually have dropped by 2100, if growth continues at current levels, there is the distinct possibility that a century from now we could be brushing shoulders with 43.6 billion other people. Quite literally in fact because, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if average temperatures are allowed to rise by 1-4C we could see sea levels rising by as much as six metres, which would create even less space. Along the way extinctions may help free up some land. It’s impossible to tell which ones, according to Jean-Christophe Vie of the International Union of the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Endangered Species, but in the firing line are tigers, polar bears and the Javan Rhino, he says. But it’s not all bad news. Advances in medicine should boost mortality rates in countries such as the UK. And for women that’s great news, because not only will they get to finally enjoy equal pay but their life expectancy should rise to 90, five years longer than their male counterparts. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/31/equality
Facing up to the global water crisis
With rising population growth and changes in the earth’s climate putting stress on the consumable 1% of the planet’s water, the global water crisis risks becoming a source of cross-border conflict. Sub-Saharan Africa is especially vulnerable given its dry climate, which is exacerbated by underdevelopment and mismanagement of water resources. In 2000, countries in Africa and in other regions set targets to halve by 2015 the number of people without access to these basic services. Some of them may meet these targets. In rural Rwanda, where nearly 4 million people gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2008, household access to sanitation facilities has increased faster than in any other country in the region. In fact, according to a report by the World Bank’s water and sanitation programme (WSP) released on the occasion of Stockholm’s annual World Water Week gathering of experts, sub-Saharan Africa has made significant progress. Across the 32 participating countries, coverage of improved water supply has risen by 13 percentage points between 1990 and 2008 to 58% of the total population. Improved sanitation coverage rose by 11 percentage points to 36%. The progress made since 1990 points to a combination of political and economic factors. Low-income, but politically stable countries committed to sector reform have made greater increases in coverage in rural water supply and urban sanitation, reduced open defecation more markedly, and been more successful in keeping water supply coverage up with population growth in urban areas than either resource-rich countries, or their conflict-affected low-income peers. Accelerating progress in providing sustainable, equitable access to water and sanitation requires two things. First, the mechanisms that convert funding into giving more people access to safer water and sanitation services need to be strengthened. Second, funding needs to be increased by at least $6bn a year to tackle a projected annual shortfall of capital investment. According to the UN Environment Programmes’s Green Economy Report, also released at Stockholm last week, an annual investment of $198bn, 0.16% of global GDP, by 2030 could reduce water scarcity and halve the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation in less than four years. More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/aug/31/tackling-global-water-crisis