: Environment

News from Population Matters.

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    Study: we’re eating large animals to extinction

    A study published this month 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…

  • Global risks: where does population rank?

    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”. However, less than a quarter…

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    Global insect collapse threatens all life on Earth

    Recently documented insect population crashes in Puerto Rico and Germany reflect a worrying global trend that is gaining increasing media coverage for good reason: insects are essential for the healthy…

  • US and China’s population growth at new low

    The population of the United States grew by 0.6% between July 2017 and July 2018, which is the lowest recorded annual growth rate since 1937. A similar trend is happening…

  • UN climate talks: disappointments and silver linings

    UN climate talks in Poland finished late last Saturday night after two weeks of painfully slow and frustrating negotiations. But what was agreed and will the outcomes help avert catastrophic…

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    Making migration safe

    On Tuesday, countries from across the world met in Marrakesh to adopt the Global Compact for Safe and Orderly Migration, whose text was agreed this summer, and published on World…

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    How to feed the world without destroying it

    A new report investigates the enormous challenge of feeding our rapidly growing population without further damaging our environment and worsening climate change. [UPDATE: Since this story was written, another major…

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    Speaking out on climate change

    Population Matters’ Patron, Sir David Attenborough, is spearheading ‘The People’s Seat’ at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP24)  in Poland this December. In a short video by the UNFCC secretariat, Sir…

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    Meet our new chief executive

    In December, Robin Maynard started work at Population Matters as our Interim CEO. In this interview, he explains why he is here and what he hopes to achieve. What’s your…

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    Livestock, extinction . . . and population

    Last week, Population Matters attended the high-profile Livestock and Extinction conference in London, organised by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) and WWF-UK. The conference brought together experts on food production, wildlife, the…