News | Population Matters

PM supporters take action on UK aid cuts

5 May 2021

Last week, the UK Government announced it will be cutting its funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) by a staggering 85%. Combined with the planned reduction in spending on girls’ education, this will deliver a devastating blow to the world’s most vulnerable women and girls. It also contradicts the Prime Minister’s claim that addressing climate change is the UK’s “foremost international priority”. Population Matters has written to key representatives and launched an e-action campaign, urging a reversal of this terrible move.

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Jonathon Porritt: Still hot on the campaign trail

22 April 2021

To celebrate Earth Day in Population Matters’ 30th anniversary year, activist Stella Wright from our London group asks our President and veteran campaigner, Jonathon Porritt, some searching questions about the population issue and the future.

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Choice Champions: breaking records, smashing barriers

16 April 2021

Childfree athlete, motivational coach and Population Matters supporter Kate Strong is gearing up to attempt some the world’s most gruelling physical challenges. She recounts how her interest in the environment and women’s rights issues prompted her to become a spokesperson for female empowerment in every sense of the word.

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Why protecting child health means ending population growth

7 April 2021

On World Health Day, paediatrics expert Peter Le Souëf explains why unsustainable population growth hurts children the most and calls for placing current and future child welfare at the centre of the need to combat overpopulation.

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Scotland's not-so-sustainable population policy

31 March 2021

Scotland has just published its first ever national population strategy. Population Matters Director Robin Maynard takes a look and laments the disconnect between the country's many other progressive policy positions and its conventional pro-growth approach.

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‘Baby drought’? Let’s focus on the real COVID-19 crises

30 March 2021

Mainstream media is rife with alarming headlines about how the world may soon run out of babies. Not only does this paint declining fertility rates as a threat instead of the hugely beneficial development they represent – it also distracts from the real crises exacerbated by COVID-19, including gender inequality and poverty. Population Matters Senior Communications Officer Olivia Nater explains.

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Troubled Waters: Population growth and climate change

22 March 2021

The theme of this year’s UN World Water Day is ‘valuing water’. The impact of the climate crisis and population growth alongside lack of progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6: ‘Water and sanitation for all’ shows we have a long way to go to learn the true value of the world’s most invaluable resource, writes Population Matters Campaigner Katrina Dixon.

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World Wildlife Day: 5 ways you can help forest species

3 March 2021

World Wildlife Day, falling on March 3rd every year, is a UN initiative that aims to celebrate wild species and raise awareness of their plight. This year’s theme, ‘Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet’, showcases humanity’s dependence on healthy forest ecosystems. Our Senior Communications Officer, Olivia Nater, examines the critical state of global forests and lists five actions we can take to help protect them and their inhabitants.

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To save biodiversity, we must transform our food systems

15 February 2021

A major new analysis highlights how current food production and consumption patterns are driving biodiversity loss, and proposes three key actions to turn the tide and create a healthier future: a shift towards more plant-based diets, setting aside more land as protected areas, and adopting more sustainable farming methods.

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Endgame 2050: Panel discussion with leading experts

5 February 2021

On 4 February 2021, Population Matters held a live-screening of the population segment of the important new documentary Endgame 2050, followed by a panel discussion with the film-maker Sofia Pineda Ochoa, reproductive health expert Alisha Graves, and our esteemed Patrons Professor Paul Ehrlich and Leilani Münter.

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New report: transform economy to save nature

4 February 2021

Our economic and financial system is driving biodiversity loss and requires massive changes, according to a major new report by economist and Population Matters patron, Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta. Addressing population growth through much greater support for family planning is one of the key solutions proposed by the report.

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Study: Population growth cancelling out climate change progress

20 January 2021

A new study finds that more than three-quarters of the gains made from increased energy efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions from energy production are offset by global population growth. The study calls for an end to the "conspicuous silence" on the role of population in our enironmental crisis.

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Humanity headed towards ‘ghastly future’: Urgent warning from top scientists

14 January 2021

An important new study warns that the world is failing to grasp the gravity of our environmental crises, and that without urgent action on the underlying causes, population and consumption growth, we face catastrophic mass extinction, climate disruption, and human suffering.

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What COVID-19 has taught us about our relationship with nature

18 December 2020

As 2020 draws to a close, humanity is reflecting on a particularly difficult year. The slow but sure roll-out of COVID-19 vaccination programmes presents a light at the end of the tunnel, yet new pandemics are just around the corner unless we confront our broken relationship with nature. Population Matters Senior Communications Officer, Olivia Nater, reviews the evidence.

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UN Summit: Are Climate Ambitions Falling Short?

7 December 2020

With the virtual UN Climate Ambition Summit 2020 being held on the 12th of December, we ask why the rapid growth of the human population is still being left off the international agenda.

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The love of the human: Interview with Judy Ling Wong

2 December 2020

Population is a complicated and multi-faceted issue. To help ensure that we at Population Matters (PM) say and do the right things, we have an Expert Advisory Group. Among those experts is the founder of the Black Environment Network, Judy Ling Wong. In conversation with Population Matters Head of Campaigns Alistair Currie, Judy discusses how addressing our environmental challenges is about far more than facts and figures - it's about engaging with what motivates and inspires people.

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An Act of Love: Vasectomies and positive masculinity

20 November 2020

On 18 October 2013, filmmaker Jonathan Stack and urologist Dr. Doug Stein launched the first ever World Vasectomy Day. This week, they are celebrating the 8th annual event with close to 1,000 participating physicians in 30 countries committed to doing 10,000 vasectomies – WVD is now the largest male-oriented family planning event in history. Jonathan reveals what motivates them and recounts their inspiring journey so far.

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"The best decision of my life": The men who chose a vasectomy

17 November 2020

World Vasectomy Day is an annual celebration of the men who choose a vasectomy to help share the burden of contraception and responsible family planning. We gathered testimonies from men across the world about their personal experiences of getting "the snip".

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Population must play a role in the climate conversation

14 November 2020

How does population growth affect climate change? For this week's London Climate Action Week, PM Board Member and Director of Flight Free UK, Anna Hughes, reflects on her decision not to have children to reduce her carbon footprint.

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Biden’s victory: What does it mean for women’s rights and the environment?

10 November 2020

Sexual and reproductive health and rights and the environment saw several significant setbacks under the Trump administration. Now that Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris have won the US presidential election, what is likely to change? Senior Communications Officer Olivia Nater takes a look at key international policy issues.

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