Population Matters resource library

Population Matters has been conducting research and producing briefings and government submissions for more than 20 years. You can use this page to find resources on a wide variety of population and environmental subjects. Use the search filters below to refine your search, or browse more than 100 papers and documents. You can also find past editions of the Population Matters members' magazine

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Note: Documents published by Population Matters in the past may not reflect current policies or positions.

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Journal of Population and Sustainability

As part of our commitment to research in the field, Population Matters also publishes the editorially independent Journal of Population and Sustainability, exploring all aspects of the relationship between human numbers and environmental issues.

Journal of Population and Sustainability

THE DEMOGRAPHY OF SCOTLAND AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVOLUTION

Briefings and submissions

Scotland’s population is growing, but more slowly and ageing more quickly than the remainder of the United Kingdom.

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UK population

Royal Society Study on Population

Briefings and submissions

Indefinite growth in anything physical on a physically finite planet is self-evidently physically impossible.

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Environment

Response to International Development Committee Inquiry on SDGs

Briefings and submissions

DFID should prioritise SDG 3 (ensure health and wellbeing) and SDG 5 (achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment).

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Development

The cost of population growth in the UK

Briefings and submissions

Each additional person requires £165,000 to be spent on housing, infrastructure, equipment and training, to extend to them the services, living standard and employment opportunities of current UK residents

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UK population

The UK in 2050

Briefings and submissions

While economic changes, urbanisation, technological advancement and environmental degradation all influence consumption and resource-availability, population growth determines the severity of the influence of each factor.

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UK population

Public Health Cuts

Briefings and submissions

Following the announcement of £200 million cuts to public health in the UK, we examine the potential impact of these cuts on sexual and reproductive health (SRH).

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UK population

High population growth in the UK’s local authorities

Briefings and submissions

UK population levels are expected to grow to 70 million by 2027. Many local authorities already face significant difficulties linked to population growth.

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UK population

Public services in the UK

Briefings and submissions

In this briefing, the challenges faced by both public services, and the consequences this has for society, will be explored.

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UK population

Teenage pregnancy

Briefings and submissions

One in six pregnancies in the UK is unintended and teenage pregnancy rates are the highest in Western Europe. 

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Families

Population and Resource Security

As the world is faced with other more pressing challenges, resource security is gradually diminishing. 

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Development

How population growth affects poverty reduction

Briefings and submissions

Unsustainable population growth impedes women’s empowerment, redirects government and household resources away from investment and limits job opportunities, while also lowering wages for those limited jobs.

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Development

Water

Sustainability Insights

Availability of fresh water is already a key resource issue for people in many parts of the world, and one which any increase inhuman population can only magnify. A

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Position Statement

Current population growth is both undesirable and unsustainable.

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World population

Response to IDC Inquiry on Humanitarian Emergencies

Briefings and submissions

Increasing access to, and use of, family planning services both generally and in the context of humanitarian emergencies can very significantly reduce the impact of crises on children.

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Development

Population Matters Articles of Association

Population Matters governance

Our Articles of Association, setting our rules, governance and obligations.

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Guarantor Member application form

Population Matters governance

Application form for Guarantor Membership of Population Matters

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Optimistic assumptions required for food sufficiency for 10 billion people by 2050

Briefings and submissions

1. Climate change will not prevent continuing increases in crop yields;
2. Ocean acidification will not reduce fisheries;
3. Water will continue to be readily available for farming;

...

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World population

Water challenges in the world and the UK

Briefings and submissions

Freshwater is not an unlimited resource, and the world has seen its water consumption levels rise rapidly in the past hundred years.

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Biodiversity

Population and food security

Briefings and submissions

‘End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030.’ The world set itself a considerable challenge in the Sustainable Development Goals.

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World population

The benefits of smaller families

Briefings and submissions

Dominant cultural norms often influence couples in their choice of family size. Depending on the context, this decision can be traced to religious, cultural or socio- economic reasons, such as the need for support in old age.

However, it is proven that a family size of two or fewer children provides many benefits both to the parents and the children.

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Families