Ethical Population Control

No one wants to talk about population control, but we already consume more resources than the planet can sustain. As we approach 9 billion people there are ethical and humane solutions to this controversial problem.

In 1804 there were 1 billion people on the planet, around 200 years later there is 7 billion; and in just 30 years we expect to have 9 billion. In the coming years Asia and Africa are expected to see the most population growth with the other continents following suit, with the exception of Europe, which according to some projections could see a slight decline. However overall the world’s population is increasing at faster rates year on year.

WHAT: Resources are limited and as populations increase the planets ability to ‘recycle’ our waste and sustain the amount of resources we use decreases. In fact as it stands at our current scale of resource consumption is far greater than the planet can cope with. This means our population needs to decrease it, to become sustainable so the earth can cope with the amount of natural resources we use.

Population control has been tried in countries such as China and India with mixed results. China’s ‘One Child’ policy has led to a number of social problems, where there were instances of forced abortions due to unauthorised pregnancies. In China it has led to many infanticides as Chinese families want boys to carry on the family name. In India there has been a number of programmes since the 1950s, including incentives for sterilization and only families with 2 or fewer children are eligible for election at local government.

HOW: The organisation Population Matters aims to provide ethical solutions to over population and envisions a future where our population is sustainable and the environment is able to recover from the resource pressures we put upon it. Their solutions to overpopulation are simple but effective:

Population Awareness: Education that makes people aware of the pressures over population will to enable greater understanding of the need to change.

Family Planning: Promoting the use of family planning methods like contraception and increasing women’s rights across the world enables people to prevent unwanted pregnancies and fully consider if they are able to support a child.

Environmental Conservation: Making people aware that there is a direct link between overpopulation and the natural environment. Getting the public to understand that more people requires more resources. This will help strengthen the case for more considered/mindful consumption, and make people more susceptible to change.

Sustainable Lifestyles: If we can live our lives with little impact upon our environment through technology, behaviour change and mindful consumption then it will help ease the amount of resources we need.

Population control should be something we all should be talking about. We have the means to make ethical and mindful choices about the resource we need from our environment, and without a considered approach to consumption then world’s resources will run out.

a changing climate