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.

Climate Development Environment Family planning Women's rights World population

Child marriage in the US: where is the outrage?

29 April 2021

Girls as young as ten are legally getting married in the United States - nearly 300,000 since 2000, according to a new report by Unchained At Last. With no protective federal law in place, over 20 states allow for child marriage at 16 years, and 10 have no age limit whatsoever. Population Matters Outreach Coordinator Florence Blondel uncovers an ugly and little-known truth.

Development Family planning US population Women's rights World population

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.

Biodiversity Climate Environment World population

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.

Environment Women's rights World population

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.

Development Environment Family planning World population

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.

Economics Environment Europe Population UK population

"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.

Economics Environment Europe Population Families Family planning US population Women's rights World population

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.

Climate Environment Food & water World population

The Handmaid's Reality

18 March 2021

Across the world, reproductive rights and women's rights are being increasingly curtailed by governments which want to boost birth rates. Head of Campaigns Alistair Currie looks at the disturbing linkages between nationalism, "family values" and panic over population loss.

Europe Population Family planning Women's rights

Women’s rights key to slowing population growth - A message to world leaders

8 March 2021

On International Women’s Day, Dr. Yasmeen Sabeeh Qazi, Senior Advocacy Advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, explains why empowering women and girls is key to accelerating sustainable development in her country, Pakistan, and globally, and calls on world leaders to invest in the advancement of women's rights.

Asia population Development Families Family planning Women's rights World population

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.

Biodiversity Climate Development Environment Food & water World population

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.

Biodiversity Climate Environment Food & water World population

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.

Biodiversity Climate Development Environment Family planning Women's rights World population

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.

Biodiversity Development Economics Environment Family planning World population

Population and reproductive rights - our new briefing

22 January 2021

In a submission to the UK parliament, Population Matters calls for greater honesty about the population benefits of reproductive rights - and warns of the threat posed by nationalistic population policies.

Development Europe Population Family planning Women's rights World population

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.

Climate Development Economics Environment World population

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.

Biodiversity Climate Development Economics Environment Family planning Food & water Women's rights World population

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.

Biodiversity Development Environment Family planning Food & water Women's rights World population

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.

Climate Environment World population

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.

Environment World population