As 2025 fast approaches, Population Matters’ Chief Executive, Amy Jankiewicz, reflects on an eventful and impactful year.

As the year draws to a close, I want to reflect on what we have achieved together and on what the future holds for us as an organisation.

Taking over in March 2024, I inherited an organisation with a powerful history, brimming with energy and creativity. My role is to shape this energy and creativity inherent in all we do and point it at the future. Together, with colleagues, we have well and truly embarked on this journey.

The world is changing. The human population is due to hit 10m in a matter of decades. It is not sustainable and plays a huge part in many of the crises this planet and all its inhabitants face. Bending down the growth of human population and, over time, reducing numbers – organically, consensually and through personal choice – is vital. I believe we can do this by empowering women, supporting gender equality and standing up for human rights. 

So, as we move forward with a new team of senior leaders at Population Matters, we can reflect on what we have achieved with a degree of satisfaction and we will build on our successes. 

I want us to find our unique voice and to bring our unique contribution to the debate to allow us to normalise conversations about population growth. Currently, it is often a taboo subject, and we need leaders to understand and embrace population challenges if we are to solve the world’s environmental problems. We are interdependent. We cannot muscle through the current crisis, consuming more indefinitely. 

 We believe that a future in which a sustainable population co-exists in harmony with nature and prospers on a healthy planet, to the beneft of all, is possible. Our commitment to achieving this remains absolute. As our patron, Sir David Attenborough, says: “All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people.” I believe all populations matter. As we review the past and embrace the future, this will be our guiding star for all we do.

I wish you all a peaceful new year.

Amy Jankiewicz