Difference between revisions of "Population Matters"

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The Optimum Population Trust is a think tank and charity promoting population control (and ultimately population decrease) as an environmental measure, but also as beneficial for the economy, development and for other social reasons. Sir [[David Attenborough]] became a patron of the organisation in April 2009 and has been effective in promoting its work since then.<ref>Parminder Bahra, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6087833.ece David Attenborough to be patron of Optimum Population Trust]. The Times. April 14, 2009, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
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[[Population Matters]] (formerly known as the '''Optimum Population Trust''') is a think tank and charity promoting "stabilisation and gradual population decrease globally and in the UK" as an environmental measure, but also as beneficial for the economy, development and for other social reasons.<ref>[http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html What is the Optimum Population Trust?], Population Matters website, accessed 9 May 2010</ref>
  
According to its website as of December 2009 the main aims of the OPT are:
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Sir [[David Attenborough]] became a patron of the organisation in April 2009.<ref>Parminder Bahra, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6087833.ece David Attenborough to be patron of Optimum Population Trust]. The Times. April 14, 2009, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
  
# To advance the education of the public in issues relating to human population worldwide and its impact on environmental sustainability;
 
# To advance, promote and encourage research to determine optimum and ecologically sustainable human population levels in all or any part or parts of the world and to publicise the results of such research;
 
# To advance environmental protection by promoting policies in the United Kingdom or any other part or parts of the world which will lead or contribute to the achievement of stable human population levels which allow environmental sustainability.<ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
 
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
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==Figures==
 
==Figures==
  
The OPT claims that 43% of births, or 80 million pregnancies a year are unwanted, and suggests policies which help to avoid them. <ref>John Vidal, Environment editor. The Guardian. December 3, 2009. 'Countdown to Copenhagen: Long flight? Worry not, a new carbon offset scheme is born: Radical plan to cut CO2 argues paying for family planning in developing world is the best bet'</ref>
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The Population Matters says that 43% of births, or 80 million pregnancies a year are unwanted, and suggests policies which help to avoid them. <ref>John Vidal, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/03/carbon-offset-projects-climate-change Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control], The Guardian. December 3, 2009, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
  
 
==Population and environment==
 
==Population and environment==
  
The OPT's chair [[Roger Martin]] attended the [[Global Humanitarian Forum]] in June 2009<ref> [http://eurovision3.feedroom.com/index.jsp?skin=ghf&fr_chl=80d1a94b8de175b3af68492f3765e5f306c6c408 Global Humanitarian Forum 2009], Accessed 8/12/09</ref> as and is quoted in newspaper articles putting over the OPT's points. He argues:
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Population Matters aims to raise the profile of the role that population growth plays in environmental damage, and in particular climate change.
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Population Matters' chair [[Roger Martin]] attended the [[Global Humanitarian Forum]] in June 2009<ref> [http://eurovision3.feedroom.com/index.jsp?skin=ghf&fr_chl=80d1a94b8de175b3af68492f3765e5f306c6c408 Global Humanitarian Forum 2009], Accessed 8/12/09</ref> and is quoted in newspaper articles putting across the think tank's point of view. He argues:
  
 
:there is not a single environmental problem that would not be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder and ultimately impossible to solve, with more.<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>
 
:there is not a single environmental problem that would not be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder and ultimately impossible to solve, with more.<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>
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and similarly:
 
and similarly:
  
:A quarter of a million more people are born each day. Until we address that there's no point in doing anything else.<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>.
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:A quarter of a million more people are born each day. Until we address that there's no point in doing anything else.<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>
  
He claims that there is a taboo on discussing the impact of population on the environment, and advocates an end to this taboo, an open discussion on how to reduce population growth worldwide, and promotes non-coercive policies which will support this (through contraception and education). He claims that this delusion on population "is the biggest single environmental problem that could quickly and easily be solved".<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>
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Population Matters claims there is a taboo on discussing the impact of population on the environment and advocates an end to this taboo, leading to an open discussion on how to reduce population growth worldwide. They also promotes so-called 'non-coercive' policies which will support this (through contraception, immigration tightening and education). Population Matters also makes a case that reducing births in developing nations such as Kenya is an effective policy to reduce carbon emissions. As Martin says:
  
Martin said:
 
 
:It’s always been obvious that total emissions depend on the number of emitters as well as their individual emissions – the carbon tonnage can’t shoot down as we want, while the population keeps shooting up.<ref>Richard Pindar, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/6161742/Contraception-cheapest-way-to-combat-climate-change.html Contraception Cheapest Way to combat Climate Change], The Telegraph, 9th Sept 09, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
 
:It’s always been obvious that total emissions depend on the number of emitters as well as their individual emissions – the carbon tonnage can’t shoot down as we want, while the population keeps shooting up.<ref>Richard Pindar, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/6161742/Contraception-cheapest-way-to-combat-climate-change.html Contraception Cheapest Way to combat Climate Change], The Telegraph, 9th Sept 09, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
  
[[Jonathon Porritt]], former [[Sustainable Development Commission]] chair and patron of the OPT, claims that reproductive policies are key to environment and development. Contentiously he adds:
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In September 2011 the Radical Statistics Population Studies group presented a paper critiquing the science behind the claims of Population Matters at the [[British Society for Population Studies]] annual conference in York. Their website explains:
:Had there been no 'one child family' policy in China there would now have been 400 million additional Chinese citizens.<ref>John Vidal, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/03/carbon-offset-projects-climate-change Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control], The Guardian. December 3, 2009, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
 
  
The OPT's central tenet is that all environmental impacts can be divided into the impact of each person multiplied by the number of people. Therefore reducing population immediately reduces impact.<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>. This assumption does not account for the role of government policy, corporations and other organisations who create the demand for goods through advertising and major deals which are out of the public sphere, such as weapons/defense contracts (the arms and war industry is a major polluter and carbon emitter).<ref>'Guns and Global Warming: War, Peace and the Environment'.[http://www.sgr.org.uk/ArmsControl/NfPAGMnotes_feb07.html Web version of a presentation given by Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, at the Network for Peace AGM, London, 10 February 2007 ], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>
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:Radical Statistics’ Population group of UK demographers/population scientists and statisticians, have examined the claims and policy of Population Matters finding them guilty of frequent overstatement, rhetoric and one-sided assertion rather than evidence that population growth is the main cause of environmental threats. Like others concerned about overpopulation before them, Population Matters promote policies that erroneously focus on the groups who consume the least. The Radical Statistics group calls on high profile patrons of Population Matters to reconsider their support, including the naturalists and broadcasters [[David Attenborough]] and [[Chris Packham]], environmental campaigner [[Jonathan Porritt]], and senior academic and cultural figures.<ref>Radical Statistics website [http://radstats.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/moral-panic-about-overpopulation-the-distracting-campaign-of-population-matters/ Moral panic about overpopulation: the distracting campaign of Population Matters] October 27th, 2011. Accessed 14/12/11</ref>
  
Further, the emphasis on population reduction as a climate change solution assumes a steady increase in carbon consumption per person, and plays into the hands of industry lobbies who are unwilling to limit their carbon emissions, similarly blaming supply and demand. At the [[Global Humanitarian Forum]], Roger Martin contradicted his earlier point that population reduction means carbon reduction when he said, 'every person not born in the future means there's more carbon for the rest of us'<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>, implying more concern over the prolonged consumption based wealth of the West, than the damaging planetary effects of increasing carbon use and emissions.
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Their paper – Moral Panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? - presents a wide range of evidence demonstrating that it is the level and type of consumption not the number of people that primarily causes environmental issues. The paper's abstract notes their key findings:
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: that many of the proposed policies carry with them the implicit assumption that each person's carbon emissions are equal, and as such erroneously focus their policy on socio-economic groups that don't contribute highly to carbon emissions.
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: that a link between an individual country's human population size and environmental degradation is not evident and cannot be reduced to the simple ecological concept of carrying capacity.
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: that some of the policies proposed would have negligible effect on the world's population size.<ref>John Bibby, Sylvie Dubuc, Michael Grayer, Diana Kornbrot, Alan Marshall, Ludi Simpson and Paul Norman. Moral panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? Radical Statistics Population Studies group, presented at the British Society for Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.</ref>
  
 
In May 2009, a Sunday Times article 'Billionaire club in bid to curb population' showed that business leaders and wealthy individuals were jumping on the population reduction train, identifying the growing population as the number one social and environmental issue (and one which they argue is mostly the fault of the developing nations).<ref>John Harlow, '[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6350303.ece Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation'- America's richest people meet to discuss ways of tackling a 'disastrous' environmental, social and industrial threat], The Sunday Times, May 24, 2009, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
 
In May 2009, a Sunday Times article 'Billionaire club in bid to curb population' showed that business leaders and wealthy individuals were jumping on the population reduction train, identifying the growing population as the number one social and environmental issue (and one which they argue is mostly the fault of the developing nations).<ref>John Harlow, '[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6350303.ece Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation'- America's richest people meet to discuss ways of tackling a 'disastrous' environmental, social and industrial threat], The Sunday Times, May 24, 2009, acc 9 May 2010</ref>
  
Guardian columnist [[George Monbiot]] criticised the OPT's aims, claiming that global population increase 'pales into insignificance when compared with the effect of increased consumption and economic growth.'<ref>John Vidal, Environment editor. The Guardian. December 3, 2009. 'Countdown to Copenhagen: Long flight? Worry not, a new carbon offset scheme is born: Radical plan to cut CO2 argues paying for family planning in developing world is the best bet'</ref>. He references a paper published in the scientific journal 'Environment and Urbanization' in Sept 2009 by [[David Satterthwaite]] of the [[International Institute for Environment and Development]] <ref>. David Satterthwaite, September 2009. The implications of population growth and urbanization for climate change. Environment & Urbanization, Vol 21(2): 545–567. DOI: 10.1177/0956247809344361. </ref> , which concludes that the total environmental impact does not equal population x affluence x technology, as previously believed, but instead equals CONSUMERS times affluence times technology. Monbiot notes that 'many of the world’s people use so little that they wouldn’t figure in this equation. They are the ones who have most children.' 'Around one sixth of the world’s population is so poor that it produces no significant emissions at all.'<ref>George Monbiot, 29 September 2009, The Guardian 'The Population Myth'</ref>
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Guardian columnist [[George Monbiot]] criticised Population Matters' aims, claiming that global population increase 'pales into insignificance when compared with the effect of increased consumption and economic growth.'<ref>John Vidal, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/03/carbon-offset-projects-climate-change Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control], The Guardian. December 3, 2009, acc 9 May 2010</ref> He references a paper published in the scientific journal 'Environment and Urbanization' in Sept 2009 by [[David Satterthwaite]] of the [[International Institute for Environment and Development]] <ref>. David Satterthwaite, September 2009. The implications of population growth and urbanization for climate change. Environment & Urbanization, Vol 21(2): 545–567. DOI: 10.1177/0956247809344361. </ref> , which concludes that the total environmental impact does not equal population x affluence x technology, as previously believed, but instead equals CONSUMERS times affluence times technology. Monbiot notes that 'many of the world’s people use so little that they wouldn’t figure in this equation. They are the ones who have most children.' 'Around one sixth of the world’s population is so poor that it produces no significant emissions at all.'<ref>George Monbiot, 29 September 2009, The Guardian 'The Population Myth'</ref>
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He concludes that the Population Matters is an example of 'the worst form of paternalism, blaming the poor for the excesses of the rich.' 'It’s time we had the guts to name the problem. It’s not sex; it’s money. It’s not the poor; it’s the rich.' <ref>George Monbiot, 29 September 2009, The Guardian 'The Population Myth'</ref>
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==Views of Population Matters' supporters==
  
He concludes that the OPT is an example of 'the worst form of paternalism, blaming the poor for the excesses of the rich.' 'It’s time we had the guts to name the problem. It’s not sex; it’s money. It’s not the poor; it’s the rich.' <ref>George Monbiot, 29 September 2009, The Guardian 'The Population Myth'</ref>
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[[Jonathon Porritt]], former [[Sustainable Development Commission]] chair and patron of the Population Matters, claimed that reproductive policies are key to environment and development. He said:
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:Had there been no 'one child family' policy in China there would now have been 400 million additional Chinese citizens.<ref>John Vidal, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/03/carbon-offset-projects-climate-change Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control], The Guardian. December 3, 2009, accessed 9 May 2010</ref>
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It should be noted that Porritt made this statement in a personal capacity rather than as a representative of the Population Matters and China's one-child policy has not been endorsed or commented on by the Population Matters or its website.
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At the [[Global Humanitarian Forum]], Roger Martin contradicted his earlier point that population reduction means carbon reduction when he said, 'every person not born in the future means there's more carbon for the rest of us'<ref>Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs You Tube], Accessed 8/12/09</ref>, implying more concern over the prolonged consumption based wealth of the West, than the damaging planetary effects of increasing carbon use and emissions.
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==Population Matters' view on consumption levels==
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The Population Matters website does address levels of consumption in affluent countries, saying:
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:Population Matters' overall task is to enable people to recognise the links between the quality of life and environmental destruction and (a) high population levels; (b) wasteful consumption; and (c) poor technology. Population Matters concentrates on (a) because other environmental organisations dangerously neglect this component. In addition it is a subject which until recently has been shunned by the media. Seeking to reshape people's reproductive behaviour, however democratically, involves the intimate decisions of individuals and is seen as an infringement of human rights. Population Matters believes that all other human rights and needs will suffer if this issue continues to be ignored.<ref>[http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html What is the Optimum Population Trust?], Population Matters website, acc 13 May 2010</ref>
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The Population Matters holds the view that addressing environmental and carbon footprint is needed but that it will not be enough without population reduction:
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:The global footprint is an average of a wide range of values ranging from 0.65 gha/cap (Afghanistan), through 4.8 gha/cap (Europe) and 9.6 gha/cap (USA), up to 10.2 gha/cap (United Arab Republic). According to the GFN, the 956 million population of the high-income countries have a footprint of 6.4 gha/cap which is eight times higher than that of the 2.3 billion inhabitants of the lowest-income countries (footprint = 0.8gha/cap.) An estimate by Andrew Ferguson, Editor of the Population Matters Journal, is that if the 956 million people in the developed world cut their footprint by two-thirds, it would still not balance the effect of the lowest-income 2.3 billion increasing their footprint by half of the per capita cut in the developed world.<ref>[http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.optimum.html Towards sustainable and optimum populations], Population Matters website, acc 13 May 2010</ref>
  
 
==UK population reduction policy==
 
==UK population reduction policy==
  
The OPT advocates stabilising and then reducing the UK population to an 'environmentally sustainable level' by:  
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Population Matters says:
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:OPT calculations suggest that even if we comprehensively greened our lifestyles, the UK could only support 27 million people – less than half its present population – from its own resources. It’s tempting to think we can always buy our way out of trouble but apart from being grossly unfair to poorer people in developing countries, this would be an exceptionally high-risk strategy in a world of growing hunger and increasing resource nationalism.<ref>[http://www.optimumpopulation.org/blog/?p=154 Population growth threatens UK’s future], Population Matters website, 21 Aug 2008, acc 109 May 2010</ref>
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Population Matters advocates stabilising and then reducing the UK population to an 'environmentally sustainable level' by:  
  
 
:* Zero net migration (balanced by allowing the same number of people into the country as the number who leave each year);
 
:* Zero net migration (balanced by allowing the same number of people into the country as the number who leave each year);
  
:* A reduction in unplanned pregnancies, particularly among teenagers, where they are still among the highest in Europe;
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:* A reduction in unplanned pregnancies, particularly among teenagers, where they are the highest in Europe;
  
 
:* Encouragement to parents to voluntarily "Stop at Two" children to reduce the impact of family size on population growth and the environment.<ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.more.migration.uk.html Migration], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
 
:* Encouragement to parents to voluntarily "Stop at Two" children to reduce the impact of family size on population growth and the environment.<ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.more.migration.uk.html Migration], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
  
OPT argue that the UK has outstretched its carrying capacity and cannot sustainably support its current population with is limited resources. Others argue that it is the current unsustainable level of resource consumption which is the problem, and we need to cut down our consumption and wealthy and wasteful lifestyles not our population per se.
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Population Matters' arguments for limits to national populations are based on the concept of carrying capacity, a useful ecological theory which says that an ecosystem will collapse if populations of species within it outstrip the resources available. They claim that the UK has outstretched its carrying capacity and cannot sustainably support its current population with its limited resources. However, the Radical Statistics Population Studies group present a wide range of scientific evidence to show that the notion of carrying capacity is of limited use in relation to human populations, because;
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:i) humans have regularly increased the capacity of the earth through their own endeavours to improve agricultural and industrial techniques and ii) human consumption is not driven by biological needs only, but is responsive to versatile cultural attitudes and adaptive to changing cultural contexts.<ref>John Bibby, Sylvie Dubuc, Michael Grayer, Diana Kornbrot, Alan Marshall, Ludi Simpson and Paul Norman. Moral panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? Radical Statistics Population Studies group, presented at the British Society for Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.</ref>
  
A number of upper class environmentalists (much of the demographic of the PTO) have been associated with anti-immigration policies which have been criticised as 'protectionist' or even 'eco-fascist', sentiments potentially related to the territorial nature of their landowning roots. <ref>Gibson. Donald, (2002). Environmentalism: Ideology and Power. Nova publishers.</ref>
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I.e it is the current unsustainable level of resource consumption that is the main problem, not the sheer number of humans irrespective of their varying impacts.
  
Others have argued vehemently against strong migration controls which can be seen as a denial of the human rights of refugees and economic migrants, who's own countries have often suffered from British wars, or exploitative companies. <ref>Teresa Hayter.Open Borders: The case Against Immigration Controls. Pluto, 2000, 2nd edition. 2004</ref>
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With no credible scientific backing to support the environmental impacts of increasing the UK's population Population Matters' policies such as zero net migration can be seen as a right wing stance which plays dangerously into the campaigns of nationalist and fascist parties such as the [[British National Party]] and the [[UK Independence Party]].
  
 
==Contraception as carbon offsetting==
 
==Contraception as carbon offsetting==
  
In December 2009 OPT made headlines by suggesting that reducing population growth in the global South (particularly Africa) will have a large impact on carbon emissions, with the least economic cost. Their report 'Fewer Emitters, Lower Emissions, Less Cost' suggests that 'every £4 spent on family planning saves one tonne of CO2. A similar reduction would require an £8 investment in tree planting, £15 in wind power, £31 in solar energy and £56 in hybrid vehicle technology.' <ref>David Burton, Guardian online. Thursday 3 December 2009. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/03/population-growth-carbon-offsets 'Indefinite population growth is not an option'</ref>
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In December 2009 Population Matters made headlines by suggesting that reducing population growth in the global South (particularly Africa) will have a large impact on carbon emissions, with the least economic cost. Their report, "Fewer Emitters, Lower Emissions, Less Cost", said, 'every £4 spent on family planning saves one tonne of CO2. A similar reduction would require an £8 investment in tree planting, £15 in wind power, £31 in solar energy and £56 in hybrid vehicle technology.' <ref>David Burton, Guardian online. Thursday 3 December 2009. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/03/population-growth-carbon-offsets 'Indefinite population growth is not an option'</ref>
  
The calculations (carried out by [[London School of Economics]] MSc student Thomas Wire) claim that 'the 10 tonnes emitted by a return flight from London to Sydney would be offset by enabling the avoidance of one unwanted birth in a country such as Kenya'<ref>John Vidal, The Guardian Newspaper. Thursday 3 December 2009. 'Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control'</ref>.  
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The calculations (carried out by [[London School of Economics]] MSc student Thomas Wire) found that 'the 10 tonnes emitted by a return flight from London to Sydney would be offset by enabling the avoidance of one unwanted birth in a country such as Kenya'<ref>John Vidal, The Guardian Newspaper. Thursday 3 December 2009. 'Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control'</ref>.  
  
The opt has set up a carbon offsetting provider called [[Pop Offsets]] which will sponsor family planning programmes in countries with the highest birth rates (and lowest climate impact) to offset (and therefore promote the continuation of) carbon intensive companies and individuals. <ref>Pop Offsets [http://www.popoffsets.com/what_we_do.php What we Do] accessed 8/12/09 </ref>
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The Population Matters has set up a carbon offsetting provider called [[Pop Offsets]] which will sponsor family planning programmes in countries with the highest birth rates (and lowest climate impact) to offset (and therefore promote the continuation of) carbon intensive companies and individuals. <ref>Pop Offsets [http://www.popoffsets.com/what_we_do.php What we Do] accessed 8/12/09 </ref>
  
 
In response, [[Friends of the Earth]]'s Head of Climate Change [[Mike Childs]] said:
 
In response, [[Friends of the Earth]]'s Head of Climate Change [[Mike Childs]] said:
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:The critical challenge is reducing the massive over-consumption of resources by people in rich nations. Rich countries have a legal and moral responsibility to lead on tackling climate change by making huge and swift cuts in their own emissions.<ref>Friends of the Earth. 'Rich countries must cut their own emissions instead of paying to offset CO2'. December 4, 2009</ref>
 
:The critical challenge is reducing the massive over-consumption of resources by people in rich nations. Rich countries have a legal and moral responsibility to lead on tackling climate change by making huge and swift cuts in their own emissions.<ref>Friends of the Earth. 'Rich countries must cut their own emissions instead of paying to offset CO2'. December 4, 2009</ref>
  
Carbon offsetting is a neo-liberal market based solution to climate change, which advocates the continuation of carbon intense, and polluting industry and lifestyles in the West, offset by projects which aim to prevent or reduce carbon emissions, usually in the global South.
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Following this criticism the Pop offsets website has changed its wording. As the Radical Statisticians note;
A [[Horizon]] special hosted by [[David Attenborough]] on 9th Dec 09 further explored the idea of population control for carbon reduction.
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:It is now offered with an emphasis that the decision to donate is one of “conscience not science”, but the unscientific calculations that balance consumption with unborn children remain part of the donation process and are indeed at the heart of the OPT perspective.<ref>John Bibby, Sylvie Dubuc, Michael Grayer, Diana Kornbrot, Alan Marshall, Ludi Simpson and Paul Norman. Moral panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? Radical Statistics Population Studies group, presented at the British Society for Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.</ref>
  
==David Attenborough==
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Carbon offsetting is a neoliberal market based solution to climate change, which advocates the continuation of carbon intense, and polluting industry and lifestyles in the West, offset by projects which aim to prevent or reduce carbon emissions, usually in the global South.
  
The eminent and deeply respected naturalist and documentary maker lent his name to the OPT in April 2009, giving the organisation huge credibility and recognition, but attracting criticism. [[Austin Williams]], author of The Enemies of Progress, said:
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A BBC [[Horizon]] special hosted by [[David Attenborough]] on 9 December 2009 further explored the idea of population control for carbon reduction.
  
:“Experts can still be stupid when they speak on subjects of which they know little. Sir David may know a sight more than I do about remote species but that does not give him the intelligence to speak on global politics.
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==David Attenborough==
  
:“I have a problem with the line that people are a problem. More people are a good thing. People are the source of creativity, intelligence, analysis and problem-solving. If we see people as just simple things that consume and excrete carbon, then the OPT may have a point, but people are more than this and they will be the ones to find the solutions.<ref>Parminder Bahra, Poverty and Development Correspondent. The Times. April 14, 2009. 'David Attenborough to be patron of Optimum Population Trust'</ref>
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The eminent naturalist and documentary maker David Attenborough lent his name to the Population Matters in April 2009. In December 2009 Attenborough hosted a special BBC 2 Horizon programme 'How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth' which promoted the trust's view that population is one of the biggest environmental issues.<ref>BBC 2 [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pdjmk How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth] Fri 11 Dec 2009. Accessed 14/12/11</ref>
  
In December 2009 Attenborough hosted a special BBC 2 Horizon programme which promoted the trust's view that population is the 'biggest single environmental problem'<ref>Roger Martin, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hS8ISaiWs 'Demographics Dynamics'] panel discussion at the Global Humanitarian Forum 2009.accessed 12/12/09.</ref>. The programme argued that as the poorest nations necessarily 'develop' they will (like us) consume and emit more carbon. This idea is substantiated by official figures which guide policy decisions at Copenhagen and other powerful bodies. For example the Wall Street Journal announced in December that;
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==Affiliations==
 
"The International Energy Agency projects that nearly all the growth in global greenhouse-gas emissions over the next two decades will come from developing countries -- and that fully half of that total will come from China alone."<ref>Jeffery Ball. [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126074144005789473.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 'Summit is seen as US versus China'.] Wall Street Journal. Dec 14th. accessed 14/12/09</ref>
 
  
What these figures don't tell us is how much of those emissions are generated by outsourced industries which feed predominantly Western consumer needs. Neither do they shift from the assumption that the only way to 'develop' is to emit, pollute and waste as much as we do in the West. They fail to address our own part in the poverty, resource scarcity and carbon emissions of the Global South. 
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Population Matters is a partner in the [[Global Footprint Network]].<ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
  
The programme also praised the [[Green Revolution]] for feeding the current world population, and did not include a critique of the large social and environmental issues which resulted from this corporate led industrialisation of farming, which some argue has diminished our ability to feed ourselves and kept millions locked into poverty and dependent on corporate fertilisers and pesticides<ref> Dr Mae Wan Ho, [http://www.i-sis.org.uk/organicagriculturefeedtheworld.php Scientists Find Organic Agriculture Can Feed the World & More] Institute of Science in Society Report 06/09/07. Accessed 15/12/09</ref>.
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==People==
  
==Affiliations==
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===Staff===
  
The OPT is a partner in the [[Global Footprint Network]].<ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
+
*[[Simon Ross]] Chief Executive Officer
 +
*[[Venetia Caine]] Newswatch Editor
 +
*[[Edmund Davey]] Membership activities
 +
*[[Carter Dillard]] US Research Fellow
 +
*[[Andrew Ferguson]] Honorary Editor, Journal
 +
*[[Julie Lewis]] Administrator
 +
*[[David Milner]] Webmaster
 +
*[[Marc Oxley]] Online discussion group manager
 +
*[[Chris Padley]] Letter Writers’ Group manager
 +
*[[Matt Williams]] Marketing and Communications Officer
  
  
==Patrons==
+
===Patrons===
  
According to their website as of December 2009;
+
====Circa December 2009====
  
 
*Sir [[David Attenborough]] OM CH CVO CBE,  Naturalist, broadcaster and trustee of the British Museum and Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew; and a former controller of BBC Two.
 
*Sir [[David Attenborough]] OM CH CVO CBE,  Naturalist, broadcaster and trustee of the British Museum and Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew; and a former controller of BBC Two.
Line 113: Line 144:
 
*Dr [[Jane Goodall]] DBE,  Founder, Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace.
 
*Dr [[Jane Goodall]] DBE,  Founder, Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace.
 
*[[Susan Hampshire]] OBE,  Actress and population campaigner
 
*[[Susan Hampshire]] OBE,  Actress and population campaigner
*Professor [[John Guillebaud]]  Former Co-chair of OPT, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health, University College, London. Former Medical Director, Margaret Pyke Centre for Family Planning.
+
*Professor [[John Guillebaud]]  Former Co-chair of Population Matters, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health, University College, London. Former Medical Director, Margaret Pyke Centre for Family Planning.
 
*Dr [[James Lovelock]] CBE  Scientist and environmentalist known for proposing the Gaia theory that Earth functions as an organism, and author of 'The Revenge of Gaia'.
 
*Dr [[James Lovelock]] CBE  Scientist and environmentalist known for proposing the Gaia theory that Earth functions as an organism, and author of 'The Revenge of Gaia'.
 
*Professor [[Aubrey Manning]] OBE, President of the Wildlife Trusts and Emeritus Professor of Natural History, University of Edinburgh
 
*Professor [[Aubrey Manning]] OBE, President of the Wildlife Trusts and Emeritus Professor of Natural History, University of Edinburgh
Line 121: Line 152:
 
*Sir [[Crispin Tickell]] GCMG KCVO, Chancellor of Kent University, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute, and former UK Permanent Representative on the United Nations Security Council <ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
 
*Sir [[Crispin Tickell]] GCMG KCVO, Chancellor of Kent University, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute, and former UK Permanent Representative on the United Nations Security Council <ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
  
==Board of Trustees==
+
====December 2011====
 +
Additional patrons:
 +
*[[Baroness Shreela Flather]] First Asian woman member of the House of Lords; crossbencher.
 +
*[[Chris Packham]] Naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author.
 +
*[[Lionel Shriver]] Journalist and author.<ref>Population Matters' website, Our People section [http://populationmatters.org/about/our-people/patrons/?phpMyAdmin=e11b8b687c20198d9ad050fbb1aa7f2f Patrons] Accessed 14/12/11</ref>
  
 +
===Board of Trustees===
 +
 +
====Circa December 2009====
 
*[[Roger Martin]], CHAIR OF TRUSTEES, was a senior diplomat, resigning 20 years ago; becoming a leading environmentalist in the South-West and serving on many green NGOs and quangos.
 
*[[Roger Martin]], CHAIR OF TRUSTEES, was a senior diplomat, resigning 20 years ago; becoming a leading environmentalist in the South-West and serving on many green NGOs and quangos.
 
*Professor [[Stephen Bown]] Professor of Laser Medicine at University College London
 
*Professor [[Stephen Bown]] Professor of Laser Medicine at University College London
Line 131: Line 169:
 
*[[Simon Ross]] is an established management consultant providing organisational strategy and performance improvement to the public and private sectors.
 
*[[Simon Ross]] is an established management consultant providing organisational strategy and performance improvement to the public and private sectors.
 
*[[Alan Stedall]] is an IT Director and has led a number of large-scale systems projects for several UK businesses.
 
*[[Alan Stedall]] is an IT Director and has led a number of large-scale systems projects for several UK businesses.
*[[Yvette Willey]], Company Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Yvette Willey has been with OPT since its foundation and is a businesswoman with treasury and accounts experience. <ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
+
*[[Yvette Willey]], Company Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Yvette Willey has been with Population Matters since its foundation and is a businesswoman with treasury and accounts experience. <ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
  
==Advisory Council==
+
====Circa December 2011====
  
*[[Catherine Budgett-Meakin]],Senior Advisor, Population & Sustainability Network (supported by the Margaret Pyke Memorial Trust)
+
*[[Roger Martin]], Chair. Former senior diplomat, leading environmentalist in the South-West serving on many green NGOs and quangos.
*[[Martin Chilcott]]Chairman & CEO, Meltwater Ventures & 2degrees.
+
*[[Harry Cripps]] Chemical engineer, energy efficiency consultant and chartered environmentalist.
*[[Patrick Curry]] PhD   lives in London and lectures in Religious Studies at the University of Kent. He is the author of 'Ecological Ethics: An Introduction', Polity, 2006.
+
*[[Pippa Hayes]] Full-time general practitioner in Devon and mother of two teenage boys.
*[[Martin Desvaux]] PhD CPhys is a physicist experienced in life assessment techniques for power generation, petrochemical and plant, and formerly a director of [[ERA Technology]] and a Trustee of OPT. He now researches ecological issues.
+
*[[Maggie Avison]] Charity sector professional, currently taking time out to study for a postgraduate degree.
*[[Rosamund McDougall]],  Former Co-chair and Policy Director of OPT, writer and speaker on population issues, publisher, international financial journalist (The Banker, Financial Times) and campaigner (Family Planning Association).
+
*[[Stephen Bown]] Professor of Laser Medicine at University College London.
*[[Rajamani Nagarajah]],  Health and development consultant to the [[European Commission]] and former Director of [[Population Concern]].
+
*[[Venetia Caine]] Currently Newswatch editor, after working in the civil and probation services, teaching, campaigning and voluntary work.
*[[Nick Reeves]],  Executive Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and writer on environmental affairs.
+
*[[Nina Clarke]] International training consultant in language and skills.
 +
*[[Colin Gallagher]] Chair of a leading UK economic research and strategy consultancy.
 +
*[[Nick Reeves]] OBE Executive Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and writer on environmental affairs.<ref>Population Matters' website, Our People section [http://populationmatters.org/about/our-people/trustees/?phpMyAdmin=e11b8b687c20198d9ad050fbb1aa7f2f Trustees] Accessed 14/12/11</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Advisory Council===
 +
*[[Martin Chilcott]] Chairman & CEO, Meltwater Ventures & 2degrees.
 +
*[[Patrick Curry]] PhD Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Wales, Lampeter. He is the author of Ecological Ethics: An Introduction, Polity, 2006.
 +
*[[Martin Desvaux]] PhD CPhys is a physicist experienced in life assessment techniques for power generation, petrochemical and plant, and formerly a director of [[ERA Technology]] and a Trustee of Population Matters. He now researches ecological issues.
 
*[[John Rowley]],  Founder/Editor of www.peopleandplanet.net and former Editor, People magazine (International Planned Parenthood Federation)
 
*[[John Rowley]],  Founder/Editor of www.peopleandplanet.net and former Editor, People magazine (International Planned Parenthood Federation)
 +
*[[Rajamani Nagarajah]]Health and development consultant to the European Commission and former Director of Population Concern.
 
*[[William Ryerson]] (USA),  Founder and president of [[Population Media Center]], William Ryerson has worked to promote population stabilisation for four decades, with an emphasis on social change communications.
 
*[[William Ryerson]] (USA),  Founder and president of [[Population Media Center]], William Ryerson has worked to promote population stabilisation for four decades, with an emphasis on social change communications.
 
*[[Alastair Service]] CBE, former Chairman of the [[Family Planning Association]]
 
*[[Alastair Service]] CBE, former Chairman of the [[Family Planning Association]]
*[[Valerie Stevens]]  former Co-chair and Chair of OPT, Valerie Stevens also worked in [[Friends of the Earth]] for 20 years, five of them spent as an elected member of the board of directors, and has long experience of political campaigning.  
+
*[[Valerie Stevens]]  former Co-chair and Chair of Population Matters, Valerie Stevens also worked in [[Friends of the Earth]] for 20 years, five of them spent as an elected member of the board of directors, and has long experience of political campaigning.<ref>Population Matters' website, Our People section [http://populationmatters.org/about/our-people/advisory-council/?phpMyAdmin=e11b8b687c20198d9ad050fbb1aa7f2f Advisory Council] Accessed 14/12/11</ref>
  
==Others==
+
====Former members of advisory council====
 +
*[[Nick Reeves]],  Executive Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and writer on environmental affairs (became a trustee).
 +
*[[Catherine Budgett-Meakin]], Senior Advisor, Population & Sustainability Network (supported by the Margaret Pyke Memorial Trust). Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 6 February 2006<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060215081838/http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Population Matters], Population Matters website, version placed in web archive 15 Feb 2010, acc in web archive May 10 2010</ref>, no longer a member by May 2010<ref>Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010</ref>
 +
*[[Martin Chilcott]], Chairman & CEO, Meltwater Ventures & 2degrees. Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 6 February 2006<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060215081838/http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Population Matters], Population Matters website, version placed in web archive 15 Feb 2010, acc in web archive May 10 2010</ref> By May 2010 he had resigned.<ref>Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010</ref>
 +
*[[Rosamund McDougall]], Former Co-chair and Policy Director of Population Matters, writer and speaker on population issues, publisher, international financial journalist (The Banker, Financial Times) and campaigner (Family Planning Association). Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 14 Dec 2007.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080104030952/http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Population Matters website, version updated 14 December 2007, placed in web archive January 4 2008, accessed in web archive 10 May 2010</ref> No longer a member by May 2010.<ref>Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010</ref>
 +
*[[Rajamani Nagarajah]], Health and development consultant to the [[European Commission]] and former Director of [[Population Concern]]. Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 6 February 2006<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060215081838/http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Population Matters], Population Matters website, version placed in web archive 15 Feb 2010, acc in web archive May 10 2010</ref>. By May 2010 he had resigned.<ref>Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010</ref>
  
*[[David Nicholson-Lord]] Policy Director,    Former Environment Editor, Independent on Sunday, Deputy Chair of the New Economics Foundation and Chair of the Urban Wildlife Network.
+
===Others===
  
*[[David Burton]] an environmental strategist and member of the Optimum Population Trust. Wrote guardian article advocating carbon offsetting through contraception measures. <ref>David Burton, Guardian online. Thursday 3 December 2009. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/03/population-growth-carbon-offsets 'Indefinite population growth is not an option'</ref>
+
*[[David Nicholson-Lord]], listed as "research associate" on Population Matters website updated 14 December 2007<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080104030952/http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Population Matters website, version updated 14 Dec 2007,
 +
placed in web archive 4 Jan 2008, acc in web archive 10 May 2010</ref>. Described as "Population Matters policy director" in an Population Matters' article, "Population growth threatens UK’s future", on the Population Matters website as at May 2010.<ref>[http://www.optimumpopulation.org/blog/?p=154 Population growth threatens UK’s future], Population Matters website, 21 Aug 2008, acc 10 May 2010</ref> He is former environment editor, Independent on Sunday, Deputy Chair of the New Economics Foundation and Chair of the Urban Wildlife Network. As of May 2010 he is no longer a policy director of the Population Matters, nor does he have any official position at the Population Matters.<ref>Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010</ref>
 +
 
 +
*[[David Burton]], an environmental strategist and member of the Optimum Population Trust. Wrote Guardian article advocating carbon offsetting through contraception measures.<ref>David Burton, '[http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/03/population-growth-carbon-offsets Indefinite population growth is not an option]' ''Guardian'' online. Thursday 3 December 2009. </ref>
  
 
==Funding==
 
==Funding==
  
OPT states that it is financed by its members, that it receives funding neither from the government nor from any political or business interests, and that it is not affiliated to any other organisation (except as a partner in the [[Global Footprint Network]]).<ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
+
Population Matters states that it is financed by its members, that it receives funding neither from the government nor from any political or business interests, and that it is not affiliated to any other organisation (except as a partner in the [[Global Footprint Network]]).<ref>Optimum Population Trust [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.aboutus.html About Us], Accessed 06/12/09</ref>
  
 
==Contact==
 
==Contact==
Line 168: Line 222:
  
 
==Resources==
 
==Resources==
 +
 +
*[http://www.spinwatch.org/-articles-by-category-mainmenu-8/53-climate-change/5335-attenboroughs-political-foray-criticised-as-simplistic Attenborough's Political Foray Criticised as Simplistic] Spinwatch website, 14 December 2009.
 +
 +
*[http://www2.lse.ac.uk/socialPolicy/BSPS/pdfs/2011_RadStats.pdf Moral panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign?] Radical Statistics Population Studies group, presented at the British Society for
 +
Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.
 +
 +
*[https://opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/adam-ramsay/charity-which-campaigned-to-ban-syrian-refugees-from-britain The charity which campaigned to ban Syrian refugees from Britain], OpenDemocracy, 23 September 2015.
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 173: Line 234:
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
[[Category:Climate]] [[Category:Climate Change]]
+
[[Category:Climate]] [[Category:Climate Change]] [[Category:Think Tanks]]

Latest revision as of 15:25, 25 September 2015

Global warming.jpg This article is part of the Climate project of Spinwatch.

Population Matters (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust) is a think tank and charity promoting "stabilisation and gradual population decrease globally and in the UK" as an environmental measure, but also as beneficial for the economy, development and for other social reasons.[1]

Sir David Attenborough became a patron of the organisation in April 2009.[2]


History

The trust was set up in 1991 by David Willey (now deceased) to monitor and discuss population trends and human carrying capacity. Their website states:

The need for this function was seen in the failure of UK governments to act on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Population in 1949, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Science and Technology in 1971 and the Government Population Panel in 1973 to set up a mechanism for monitoring and policy guidance on issues affected by population changes - such as welfare, education, labour supply, population ageing, immigration and impact on the environment.
The need was also seen in a general neglect of the role of population pressure by bodies concerned with the relief of poverty and protection of the environment, and the consequent tendency of those bodies to promote ineffective or counterproductive policies.[3]

Figures

The Population Matters says that 43% of births, or 80 million pregnancies a year are unwanted, and suggests policies which help to avoid them. [4]

Population and environment

Population Matters aims to raise the profile of the role that population growth plays in environmental damage, and in particular climate change.

Population Matters' chair Roger Martin attended the Global Humanitarian Forum in June 2009[5] and is quoted in newspaper articles putting across the think tank's point of view. He argues:

there is not a single environmental problem that would not be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder and ultimately impossible to solve, with more.[6]

and similarly:

A quarter of a million more people are born each day. Until we address that there's no point in doing anything else.[7]

Population Matters claims there is a taboo on discussing the impact of population on the environment and advocates an end to this taboo, leading to an open discussion on how to reduce population growth worldwide. They also promotes so-called 'non-coercive' policies which will support this (through contraception, immigration tightening and education). Population Matters also makes a case that reducing births in developing nations such as Kenya is an effective policy to reduce carbon emissions. As Martin says:

It’s always been obvious that total emissions depend on the number of emitters as well as their individual emissions – the carbon tonnage can’t shoot down as we want, while the population keeps shooting up.[8]

In September 2011 the Radical Statistics Population Studies group presented a paper critiquing the science behind the claims of Population Matters at the British Society for Population Studies annual conference in York. Their website explains:

Radical Statistics’ Population group of UK demographers/population scientists and statisticians, have examined the claims and policy of Population Matters finding them guilty of frequent overstatement, rhetoric and one-sided assertion rather than evidence that population growth is the main cause of environmental threats. Like others concerned about overpopulation before them, Population Matters promote policies that erroneously focus on the groups who consume the least. The Radical Statistics group calls on high profile patrons of Population Matters to reconsider their support, including the naturalists and broadcasters David Attenborough and Chris Packham, environmental campaigner Jonathan Porritt, and senior academic and cultural figures.[9]

Their paper – Moral Panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? - presents a wide range of evidence demonstrating that it is the level and type of consumption not the number of people that primarily causes environmental issues. The paper's abstract notes their key findings:

that many of the proposed policies carry with them the implicit assumption that each person's carbon emissions are equal, and as such erroneously focus their policy on socio-economic groups that don't contribute highly to carbon emissions.
that a link between an individual country's human population size and environmental degradation is not evident and cannot be reduced to the simple ecological concept of carrying capacity.
that some of the policies proposed would have negligible effect on the world's population size.[10]

In May 2009, a Sunday Times article 'Billionaire club in bid to curb population' showed that business leaders and wealthy individuals were jumping on the population reduction train, identifying the growing population as the number one social and environmental issue (and one which they argue is mostly the fault of the developing nations).[11]

Guardian columnist George Monbiot criticised Population Matters' aims, claiming that global population increase 'pales into insignificance when compared with the effect of increased consumption and economic growth.'[12] He references a paper published in the scientific journal 'Environment and Urbanization' in Sept 2009 by David Satterthwaite of the International Institute for Environment and Development [13] , which concludes that the total environmental impact does not equal population x affluence x technology, as previously believed, but instead equals CONSUMERS times affluence times technology. Monbiot notes that 'many of the world’s people use so little that they wouldn’t figure in this equation. They are the ones who have most children.' 'Around one sixth of the world’s population is so poor that it produces no significant emissions at all.'[14]

He concludes that the Population Matters is an example of 'the worst form of paternalism, blaming the poor for the excesses of the rich.' 'It’s time we had the guts to name the problem. It’s not sex; it’s money. It’s not the poor; it’s the rich.' [15]

Views of Population Matters' supporters

Jonathon Porritt, former Sustainable Development Commission chair and patron of the Population Matters, claimed that reproductive policies are key to environment and development. He said:

Had there been no 'one child family' policy in China there would now have been 400 million additional Chinese citizens.[16]

It should be noted that Porritt made this statement in a personal capacity rather than as a representative of the Population Matters and China's one-child policy has not been endorsed or commented on by the Population Matters or its website.

At the Global Humanitarian Forum, Roger Martin contradicted his earlier point that population reduction means carbon reduction when he said, 'every person not born in the future means there's more carbon for the rest of us'[17], implying more concern over the prolonged consumption based wealth of the West, than the damaging planetary effects of increasing carbon use and emissions.


Population Matters' view on consumption levels

The Population Matters website does address levels of consumption in affluent countries, saying:

Population Matters' overall task is to enable people to recognise the links between the quality of life and environmental destruction and (a) high population levels; (b) wasteful consumption; and (c) poor technology. Population Matters concentrates on (a) because other environmental organisations dangerously neglect this component. In addition it is a subject which until recently has been shunned by the media. Seeking to reshape people's reproductive behaviour, however democratically, involves the intimate decisions of individuals and is seen as an infringement of human rights. Population Matters believes that all other human rights and needs will suffer if this issue continues to be ignored.[18]

The Population Matters holds the view that addressing environmental and carbon footprint is needed but that it will not be enough without population reduction:

The global footprint is an average of a wide range of values ranging from 0.65 gha/cap (Afghanistan), through 4.8 gha/cap (Europe) and 9.6 gha/cap (USA), up to 10.2 gha/cap (United Arab Republic). According to the GFN, the 956 million population of the high-income countries have a footprint of 6.4 gha/cap which is eight times higher than that of the 2.3 billion inhabitants of the lowest-income countries (footprint = 0.8gha/cap.) An estimate by Andrew Ferguson, Editor of the Population Matters Journal, is that if the 956 million people in the developed world cut their footprint by two-thirds, it would still not balance the effect of the lowest-income 2.3 billion increasing their footprint by half of the per capita cut in the developed world.[19]

UK population reduction policy

Population Matters says:

OPT calculations suggest that even if we comprehensively greened our lifestyles, the UK could only support 27 million people – less than half its present population – from its own resources. It’s tempting to think we can always buy our way out of trouble but apart from being grossly unfair to poorer people in developing countries, this would be an exceptionally high-risk strategy in a world of growing hunger and increasing resource nationalism.[20]

Population Matters advocates stabilising and then reducing the UK population to an 'environmentally sustainable level' by:

  • Zero net migration (balanced by allowing the same number of people into the country as the number who leave each year);
  • A reduction in unplanned pregnancies, particularly among teenagers, where they are the highest in Europe;
  • Encouragement to parents to voluntarily "Stop at Two" children to reduce the impact of family size on population growth and the environment.[21]

Population Matters' arguments for limits to national populations are based on the concept of carrying capacity, a useful ecological theory which says that an ecosystem will collapse if populations of species within it outstrip the resources available. They claim that the UK has outstretched its carrying capacity and cannot sustainably support its current population with its limited resources. However, the Radical Statistics Population Studies group present a wide range of scientific evidence to show that the notion of carrying capacity is of limited use in relation to human populations, because;

i) humans have regularly increased the capacity of the earth through their own endeavours to improve agricultural and industrial techniques and ii) human consumption is not driven by biological needs only, but is responsive to versatile cultural attitudes and adaptive to changing cultural contexts.[22]

I.e it is the current unsustainable level of resource consumption that is the main problem, not the sheer number of humans irrespective of their varying impacts.

With no credible scientific backing to support the environmental impacts of increasing the UK's population Population Matters' policies such as zero net migration can be seen as a right wing stance which plays dangerously into the campaigns of nationalist and fascist parties such as the British National Party and the UK Independence Party.

Contraception as carbon offsetting

In December 2009 Population Matters made headlines by suggesting that reducing population growth in the global South (particularly Africa) will have a large impact on carbon emissions, with the least economic cost. Their report, "Fewer Emitters, Lower Emissions, Less Cost", said, 'every £4 spent on family planning saves one tonne of CO2. A similar reduction would require an £8 investment in tree planting, £15 in wind power, £31 in solar energy and £56 in hybrid vehicle technology.' [23]

The calculations (carried out by London School of Economics MSc student Thomas Wire) found that 'the 10 tonnes emitted by a return flight from London to Sydney would be offset by enabling the avoidance of one unwanted birth in a country such as Kenya'[24].

The Population Matters has set up a carbon offsetting provider called Pop Offsets which will sponsor family planning programmes in countries with the highest birth rates (and lowest climate impact) to offset (and therefore promote the continuation of) carbon intensive companies and individuals. [25]

In response, Friends of the Earth's Head of Climate Change Mike Childs said:

The idea of paying for birth control in developing countries to offset carbon-intensive lifestyles in rich countries is repugnant. Rich countries caused climate change and their reluctance to cut their own emissions is pushing the planet to the brink of climate chaos.
G8 countries make up 13 per cent of the world's population yet account for 45 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The problem lies with high consumer lifestyles in the rich world - not with growing populations in poorer countries.
The critical challenge is reducing the massive over-consumption of resources by people in rich nations. Rich countries have a legal and moral responsibility to lead on tackling climate change by making huge and swift cuts in their own emissions.[26]

Following this criticism the Pop offsets website has changed its wording. As the Radical Statisticians note;

It is now offered with an emphasis that the decision to donate is one of “conscience not science”, but the unscientific calculations that balance consumption with unborn children remain part of the donation process and are indeed at the heart of the OPT perspective.[27]

Carbon offsetting is a neoliberal market based solution to climate change, which advocates the continuation of carbon intense, and polluting industry and lifestyles in the West, offset by projects which aim to prevent or reduce carbon emissions, usually in the global South.

A BBC Horizon special hosted by David Attenborough on 9 December 2009 further explored the idea of population control for carbon reduction.

David Attenborough

The eminent naturalist and documentary maker David Attenborough lent his name to the Population Matters in April 2009. In December 2009 Attenborough hosted a special BBC 2 Horizon programme 'How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth' which promoted the trust's view that population is one of the biggest environmental issues.[28]

Affiliations

Population Matters is a partner in the Global Footprint Network.[29]

People

Staff


Patrons

Circa December 2009

  • Sir David Attenborough OM CH CVO CBE, Naturalist, broadcaster and trustee of the British Museum and Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew; and a former controller of BBC Two.
  • Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge
  • Professor Paul Ehrlich, Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University
  • Dr Jane Goodall DBE, Founder, Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace.
  • Susan Hampshire OBE, Actress and population campaigner
  • Professor John Guillebaud Former Co-chair of Population Matters, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health, University College, London. Former Medical Director, Margaret Pyke Centre for Family Planning.
  • Dr James Lovelock CBE Scientist and environmentalist known for proposing the Gaia theory that Earth functions as an organism, and author of 'The Revenge of Gaia'.
  • Professor Aubrey Manning OBE, President of the Wildlife Trusts and Emeritus Professor of Natural History, University of Edinburgh
  • Professor Norman Myers CMG, Visiting Fellow, Green College, Oxford University, and at Universities of Harvard, Cornell, Stanford, California, Michigan and Texas
  • Sara Parkin OBE, Founder Director and Trustee of Forum for the Future and Director of the Natural Environment Research Council and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and Head Teachers into Industry.
  • Jonathon Porritt CBE, Founder Director of Forum for the Future and former Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission.
  • Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO, Chancellor of Kent University, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute, and former UK Permanent Representative on the United Nations Security Council [30]

December 2011

Additional patrons:

Board of Trustees

Circa December 2009

  • Roger Martin, CHAIR OF TRUSTEES, was a senior diplomat, resigning 20 years ago; becoming a leading environmentalist in the South-West and serving on many green NGOs and quangos.
  • Professor Stephen Bown Professor of Laser Medicine at University College London
  • Harry Cripps MA MSc DMS CEng CEnv FIChemE MEI, chemical engineer, energy efficiency consultant and chartered environmentalist
  • Dr Pippa Hayes is a full-time general practitioner in Devon and mother of two teenage boys.
  • Rosemary Horsey is married to a doctor with two children and four grandchildren, two of them adopted. She has worked as a volunteer in environmental NGOs for almost all her adult life.
  • Garry Jones BA MA (Cantab) works for a major eNGO, encouraging a greater connection between people and environment. He is also actively involved in the local voluntary sector in Staffordshire.
  • Simon Ross is an established management consultant providing organisational strategy and performance improvement to the public and private sectors.
  • Alan Stedall is an IT Director and has led a number of large-scale systems projects for several UK businesses.
  • Yvette Willey, Company Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Yvette Willey has been with Population Matters since its foundation and is a businesswoman with treasury and accounts experience. [32]

Circa December 2011

  • Roger Martin, Chair. Former senior diplomat, leading environmentalist in the South-West serving on many green NGOs and quangos.
  • Harry Cripps Chemical engineer, energy efficiency consultant and chartered environmentalist.
  • Pippa Hayes Full-time general practitioner in Devon and mother of two teenage boys.
  • Maggie Avison Charity sector professional, currently taking time out to study for a postgraduate degree.
  • Stephen Bown Professor of Laser Medicine at University College London.
  • Venetia Caine Currently Newswatch editor, after working in the civil and probation services, teaching, campaigning and voluntary work.
  • Nina Clarke International training consultant in language and skills.
  • Colin Gallagher Chair of a leading UK economic research and strategy consultancy.
  • Nick Reeves OBE Executive Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and writer on environmental affairs.[33]

Advisory Council

  • Martin Chilcott Chairman & CEO, Meltwater Ventures & 2degrees.
  • Patrick Curry PhD Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Wales, Lampeter. He is the author of Ecological Ethics: An Introduction, Polity, 2006.
  • Martin Desvaux PhD CPhys is a physicist experienced in life assessment techniques for power generation, petrochemical and plant, and formerly a director of ERA Technology and a Trustee of Population Matters. He now researches ecological issues.
  • John Rowley, Founder/Editor of www.peopleandplanet.net and former Editor, People magazine (International Planned Parenthood Federation)
  • Rajamani NagarajahHealth and development consultant to the European Commission and former Director of Population Concern.
  • William Ryerson (USA), Founder and president of Population Media Center, William Ryerson has worked to promote population stabilisation for four decades, with an emphasis on social change communications.
  • Alastair Service CBE, former Chairman of the Family Planning Association
  • Valerie Stevens former Co-chair and Chair of Population Matters, Valerie Stevens also worked in Friends of the Earth for 20 years, five of them spent as an elected member of the board of directors, and has long experience of political campaigning.[34]

Former members of advisory council

  • Nick Reeves, Executive Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and writer on environmental affairs (became a trustee).
  • Catherine Budgett-Meakin, Senior Advisor, Population & Sustainability Network (supported by the Margaret Pyke Memorial Trust). Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 6 February 2006[35], no longer a member by May 2010[36]
  • Martin Chilcott, Chairman & CEO, Meltwater Ventures & 2degrees. Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 6 February 2006[37] By May 2010 he had resigned.[38]
  • Rosamund McDougall, Former Co-chair and Policy Director of Population Matters, writer and speaker on population issues, publisher, international financial journalist (The Banker, Financial Times) and campaigner (Family Planning Association). Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 14 Dec 2007.[39] No longer a member by May 2010.[40]
  • Rajamani Nagarajah, Health and development consultant to the European Commission and former Director of Population Concern. Listed as a member of the advisory council on Population Matters website, version updated 6 February 2006[41]. By May 2010 he had resigned.[42]

Others

  • David Nicholson-Lord, listed as "research associate" on Population Matters website updated 14 December 2007[43]. Described as "Population Matters policy director" in an Population Matters' article, "Population growth threatens UK’s future", on the Population Matters website as at May 2010.[44] He is former environment editor, Independent on Sunday, Deputy Chair of the New Economics Foundation and Chair of the Urban Wildlife Network. As of May 2010 he is no longer a policy director of the Population Matters, nor does he have any official position at the Population Matters.[45]
  • David Burton, an environmental strategist and member of the Optimum Population Trust. Wrote Guardian article advocating carbon offsetting through contraception measures.[46]

Funding

Population Matters states that it is financed by its members, that it receives funding neither from the government nor from any political or business interests, and that it is not affiliated to any other organisation (except as a partner in the Global Footprint Network).[47]

Contact

Address:
Phone:
Email:
Website:

Resources

Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.

Notes

  1. What is the Optimum Population Trust?, Population Matters website, accessed 9 May 2010
  2. Parminder Bahra, David Attenborough to be patron of Optimum Population Trust. The Times. April 14, 2009, acc 9 May 2010
  3. Optimum Population Trust About Us, Accessed 8/12/09
  4. John Vidal, Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control, The Guardian. December 3, 2009, acc 9 May 2010
  5. Global Humanitarian Forum 2009, Accessed 8/12/09
  6. Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see You Tube, Accessed 8/12/09
  7. Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see You Tube, Accessed 8/12/09
  8. Richard Pindar, Contraception Cheapest Way to combat Climate Change, The Telegraph, 9th Sept 09, acc 9 May 2010
  9. Radical Statistics website Moral panic about overpopulation: the distracting campaign of Population Matters October 27th, 2011. Accessed 14/12/11
  10. John Bibby, Sylvie Dubuc, Michael Grayer, Diana Kornbrot, Alan Marshall, Ludi Simpson and Paul Norman. Moral panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? Radical Statistics Population Studies group, presented at the British Society for Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.
  11. John Harlow, 'Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation'- America's richest people meet to discuss ways of tackling a 'disastrous' environmental, social and industrial threat, The Sunday Times, May 24, 2009, acc 9 May 2010
  12. John Vidal, Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control, The Guardian. December 3, 2009, acc 9 May 2010
  13. . David Satterthwaite, September 2009. The implications of population growth and urbanization for climate change. Environment & Urbanization, Vol 21(2): 545–567. DOI: 10.1177/0956247809344361.
  14. George Monbiot, 29 September 2009, The Guardian 'The Population Myth'
  15. George Monbiot, 29 September 2009, The Guardian 'The Population Myth'
  16. John Vidal, Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control, The Guardian. December 3, 2009, accessed 9 May 2010
  17. Roger Martin, Demographics Dynamics at Global Humanitarian Forum 2009. see You Tube, Accessed 8/12/09
  18. What is the Optimum Population Trust?, Population Matters website, acc 13 May 2010
  19. Towards sustainable and optimum populations, Population Matters website, acc 13 May 2010
  20. Population growth threatens UK’s future, Population Matters website, 21 Aug 2008, acc 109 May 2010
  21. Optimum Population Trust Migration, Accessed 06/12/09
  22. John Bibby, Sylvie Dubuc, Michael Grayer, Diana Kornbrot, Alan Marshall, Ludi Simpson and Paul Norman. Moral panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? Radical Statistics Population Studies group, presented at the British Society for Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.
  23. David Burton, Guardian online. Thursday 3 December 2009. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/03/population-growth-carbon-offsets 'Indefinite population growth is not an option'
  24. John Vidal, The Guardian Newspaper. Thursday 3 December 2009. 'Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control'
  25. Pop Offsets What we Do accessed 8/12/09
  26. Friends of the Earth. 'Rich countries must cut their own emissions instead of paying to offset CO2'. December 4, 2009
  27. John Bibby, Sylvie Dubuc, Michael Grayer, Diana Kornbrot, Alan Marshall, Ludi Simpson and Paul Norman. Moral panic about overpopulation: a distracting campaign? Radical Statistics Population Studies group, presented at the British Society for Population Studies annual conference, York, 7-9 September 2010.
  28. BBC 2 How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth Fri 11 Dec 2009. Accessed 14/12/11
  29. Optimum Population Trust About Us, Accessed 06/12/09
  30. Optimum Population Trust About Us, Accessed 06/12/09
  31. Population Matters' website, Our People section Patrons Accessed 14/12/11
  32. Optimum Population Trust About Us, Accessed 06/12/09
  33. Population Matters' website, Our People section Trustees Accessed 14/12/11
  34. Population Matters' website, Our People section Advisory Council Accessed 14/12/11
  35. About Population Matters, Population Matters website, version placed in web archive 15 Feb 2010, acc in web archive May 10 2010
  36. Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010
  37. About Population Matters, Population Matters website, version placed in web archive 15 Feb 2010, acc in web archive May 10 2010
  38. Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010
  39. About Us, Population Matters website, version updated 14 December 2007, placed in web archive January 4 2008, accessed in web archive 10 May 2010
  40. Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010
  41. About Population Matters, Population Matters website, version placed in web archive 15 Feb 2010, acc in web archive May 10 2010
  42. Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010
  43. About Us, Population Matters website, version updated 14 Dec 2007, placed in web archive 4 Jan 2008, acc in web archive 10 May 2010
  44. Population growth threatens UK’s future, Population Matters website, 21 Aug 2008, acc 10 May 2010
  45. Email from Population Matters to SpinProfiles editors, 8 May 2010
  46. David Burton, 'Indefinite population growth is not an option' Guardian online. Thursday 3 December 2009.
  47. Optimum Population Trust About Us, Accessed 06/12/09