A new book called Empty Planet by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson makes the startling claim that far from increasing by billions as experts predict, global population will peak below 9 billion and start to fall rapidly by mid-century. Our Head of Campaigns, Alistair Currie, asks if they could be right.

An online survey of over 10,000 adults across nine countries found that more than two thirds of respondents consider population growth a “global catastrophic risk”, with developing countries more concerned than developed countries.

A study published in Conservation Letters found that three out of five of the world’s large wild animals are threatened with extinction, mainly due to direct harvesting by humans for consumption of meat or body parts.

February 2019 in the UK was the hottest ever recorded, with temperatures exceeding 20 °C on two consecutive days - the warmest winter temperature on record.

Coinciding with the unseasonably warm weather was a serious air pollution episode, with legal limits breached at almost 2,000 UK sites.

In case you missed our earlier email, we are thrilled to announce that registration is now open for our free 2019 conference, The Last Elephant in the Room: Human Population and the Sixth Mass Extinction. The conference will take place on Saturday 27 April at Friends House, London. Over 120 people have already registered. Don't miss out!

The UK and Scottish Governments have responded to a letter from Population Matters sent last year seeking urgent action on the environmental crisis in light of the Second Scientists' Warning.

Unfortunately, both responses were rife with platitudes and complacency.

Following an initial set of targets to be met by 2020, governments are now negotiating the next stage of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Please contact your government before the consultation meeting on 19 March, asking them to ensure the CBD will address human population going forward.

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