We stand for the wellbeing of people, nature and planet
Population Matters works to address the connections between reproductive rights, population dynamics, unequal consumption and environmental change. We do this through our research, advocacy and partnerships. With the aim of improving care for people, nature and planet today and generations to come.
Population, development
and the environment
How people live, how populations change and how we care for the natural world and planet are connected. Our work brings these relationships together, with human rights and gender equality at its heart. A better future means improving wellbeing today while protecting the world that future generations will inherit.
A shared future
Population change sits within wider social, economic and environmental systems. Access to healthcare and education, public investment and the way resources are produced and consumed belong in the same conversation. The highest-consuming people and nations carry the greatest responsibility for changing unsustainable consumption.
Click a blob to explore its connections.
Population
dynamicsBirths, deaths, age structure and migration: understanding how populations change.
Sustainable
developmentHealthcare, education and livelihoods, supported by fair investment and public policy.
Environment &
consumptionClimate, biodiversity and shared resources. Unequal consumption shapes responsibility.
Our vision is a world in which humanity lives fairly and sustainably with nature and each other.
Learn more about our mission and valuesPopulation growth and GDP per capita: the strongest drivers of fossil-fuel CO₂ emissions
Evidence from the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body that assesses climate science.
The IPCC, the UN body that assesses climate science, identifies population growth and rising economic output per person as the strongest drivers of global fossil-fuel CO₂ emissions in 2010–2019. This finding appears in its 2022 Sixth Assessment Report. The organisation shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.
The population–climate connection is recognised in a major international assessment of climate science. For Population Matters, this provides a clear scientific basis for bringing population growth into discussions about emissions and our shared future.
Population growth is part of a wider picture that includes economic activity, fossil-fuel energy and unequal consumption. The highest-consuming people and nations carry the greatest responsibility. Understanding these connections matters for the planet future generations will inherit.
“Globally, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and population growth remained the strongest drivers of CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the last decade.”
Working Group III · Chapter 2, p. 217
High confidence · Global findings for 2010–2019
Supporting people to shape their own futures
Reproductive rights begin with the freedom to make informed choices. We work alongside local organisations to support community education, strengthen advocacy and learn from the people leading change.
Community education · Kenya
Young people leading the conversation
Critical Conversations Association uses art, performance and peer education to create space for informed personal choices and discussion of population and community wellbeing. PM supports its community-led approach and work to build evidence of impact.
Meet our partners in Kenya
Advocacy · Nigeria
Making reproductive choice part of the conversation
With CISLAC, PM brings community perspectives into discussions with policymakers about access to voluntary family planning and education.
Explore our work with CISLAC
Grassroots support · Sierra Leone
Backing women’s choices and livelihoods
Through Empower to Plan, PM supports SEED’s community-led project. Its plans bring together reproductive health education, women’s livelihoods and mangrove conservation.
Discover the SEED projectWorking globally with our partners
Reproductive rights and community leadership are at the heart of our work for people, nature and planet. Explore our global network of projects, partnerships and research collaborations — and meet the people and organisations helping to shape a better future.
Stronger evidence.
Greater investment.
Our open letter asks research funding bodies to support research connecting demographic change, environmental sustainability and equitable development.
It calls for collaboration across disciplines and better understanding of how population dynamics, consumption and the conditions in which people live interact. Reproductive rights and freedom of choice must remain central to that conversation.
Read the letter & add your nameVoices supporting our work
On women’s choices, the wellbeing of communities and our relationship with the natural world: perspectives from our president and patrons, past and present.
“When women and communities have access to health information, family planning services, livelihoods and opportunity, everyone benefits…”
Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
Founder and CEO, Conservation Through Public Health
Population Matters patron and board advisor
“…humanity needs to reduce its impact on the Earth urgently…”
Sir David Attenborough
Naturalist and broadcaster
Population Matters patron
“Positive solutions to tackle population growth change people’s lives for the better. Population Matters understands that.”
Gordon Buchanan
Wildlife filmmaker and presenter
Population Matters patron
“Family planning is listening to what women want, not telling them what to do.”
Malcolm Potts
1935–2025
In memory of our patron
“Educating and empowering women and girls and providing family planning information enables more people to choose the size of their families.”
Dame Jane Goodall
1934–2025
In memory of our patron
“We’re using up more than our fair share of the Earth’s resources. It only works because others are underconsuming.”
Chris Packham
Naturalist, presenter and author
Population Matters patron
“…how to find a balance between what humanity takes from Nature and what we leave behind for our descendants.”
Sir Partha Dasgupta
Economist
Population Matters patron
“Young people have a hunger to protect the environment – let’s talk about population. They’re ready for it.”
Judy Ling Wong
Painter, poet and environmentalist
Population Matters patron
“The emphasis for NGOs operating today is on women’s rights, non-coercive family planning…”
Jonathon Porritt
Environmentalist
President of Population Matters
“…backing women’s reproductive choices everywhere, including adapting positively to naturally falling birth rates.”
Sara Parkin OBE
Population Matters patron
Former Chair of Population Matters
For a shared future.
For people, nature
and planet.
Registered charity 1114109.
Governance and financial statements