world population

Ending world population growth as soon as possible is critical if the world is to limit global warming to 2oC, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).

Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its report issued yesterday said ‘urgent action’ is needed if we are to keep within the internationally agreed limit of 2oC.

According to Dutch economist Reyer Gerlagh, co-ordinating lead author of one of the report's chapters, growth in emissions is currently tied to economic and population growth. It would take ‘a drastic change to the system’ to break this connection.

SPA National President, Ms Jenny Goldie, says if growth in greenhouse gas emissions is tied to ‘economic and population growth’, then it follows that ending population growth is essential if the world is to limit warming to 2oC.

The UN’s middle projection for 2050 is 9.6 billion, a third more than the current population of 7.2 billion.

“If we go to 9.6 billion, we would emit a third more greenhouse gases by mid-century from population growth alone,” says Ms Goldie. “Yet significant reductions in emissions are needed by then.

“Population stabilisation and even reduction has to be an essential part of the mitigation mix. Moving to a low carbon economy is, of course, necessary with fossil fuels phased out as quickly as possible. If, however, population continues to grow inexorably, then any success in emission reduction through adopting low carbon technologies is likely to be offset by population growth.”

Ms Goldie noted that the IPCC media release had said: ‘Land is another key component for the 2°C goal. Slowing deforestation and planting forests have stopped or even reversed the increase in emissions from land use.’

“Yet while ever there are more mouths to feed, more forests will be cut down to grow food. There is no way growth in yields on current farmland will provide for the growing population, especially in light of climate change. More people mean fewer forests,” Ms Goldie says.

July 30. The film will be introduced by Australian population scientist, Sheila Newman, (Demography, Territory, Law) who will also lead discussion afterwards. Grounded in the theories of social scientist Riane Eisler, the film strives not to blame but to educate, to highlight a different path for humanity. Overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem - a "domination system" that for most of human history has glorified the domination of man over nature, man over child and man over woman. To break this pattern, the film demonstrates that we must change our conquering mindset into a nurturing one. And the first step is to raise the status of women worldwide.

Sheila Newman, who will be introducing the event, is the author of a new demographic theory book called Demography, territory and Law, the Rules of Animal and Human Populations.

The event is sponsored by Sustainable Population Australia and Arts in Action. You can find out more about it at www.artsinaction.com.au/mother-caring-for-7-billion. You can purchase tickets at the door or order them online. Tickets online are $7/$10 BF. At the door tickets will cost $12/$15.

Synopsis

Mother, the film, breaks a 40-year taboo by bringing to light an issue that silently fuels our most pressing environmental, humanitarian and social crises - population growth. In 2011 the world population reached 7 billion, a startling seven-fold increase since the first billion occurred 200 years ago.

Population was once at the top of the international agenda, dominating the first Earth Day and the subject of best-selling books like “The Population Bomb”. Since the 1960s the world population has nearly doubled, adding more than 3 billion people. At the same time, talking about population has become politically incorrect because of the sensitivity of the issues surrounding the topic–religion, economics, family planning and gender inequality. Yet it is an issue we cannot afford to ignore.

Today, nearly 1 billion people still suffer from chronic hunger even though the Green Revolution that has fed billions will soon come to an end due to the diminishing availability of its main ingredients–oil and water. Compounded with our ravenous appetite for natural resources, population growth is putting an unprecedented burden on the life system we all depend on, as we refuse to face the fact that more people equals more problems.

The film illustrates both the over-consumption and the inequity side of the population issue by following Beth, a mother and a child-rights activist as she comes to discover, along with the audience, the thorny complexities of the population issue. Beth – who comes from a large American family of 12 and has adopted an African-born daughter–travels to Ethiopia where she meets Zinet, the oldest daughter of a desperately poor family of 12. Zinet has found the courage to break free from thousand-year-old-cultural barriers, and their encounter will change Beth forever.

Grounded in the theories of social scientist Riane Eisler, the film strives not to blame but to educate, to highlight a different path for humanity. Overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem - a "domination system" that for most of human history has glorified the domination of man over nature, man over child and man over woman. To break this pattern, the film demonstrates that we must change our conquering mindset into a nurturing one. And the first step is to raise the status of women worldwide.

"Mother: Caring for 7 Billion" features world-renown experts and scientists including biologist Paul Ehrlich, author of “The Population Bomb;" economist Mathis Wackernagel, the creator of the ground-breaking Footprint Network; Malcolm Potts, a pioneer in human reproductive health; and Riane Eisler, whose book “The Chalice and the Blade” has been published in 23 countries.