growth - Blog - SCOCO Network2024-03-28T19:52:22Zhttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/growthRio+20 Here We Come: But Will Population Issues Be Heard?https://sustainablecoco.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rio-20-here-we-come-but-will-population-issues-be-heard2012-06-04T18:00:00.000Z2012-06-04T18:00:00.000ZHowMany.orghttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/members/HowManyorg<div><p><span><span><span><strong>By Suzanne York, <a title="HowMany.org" href="http://www.howmany.org/" target="_blank">HowMany.org</a>, June 4, 2012 - photo courtesy: <span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/62242291@N04/6206521698/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/62242291@N04/6206521698/</a></span></strong></span></span></span></p><p><span><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8095726455,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}8095726455,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" class="align-right" alt="8095726455?profile=original" /></a>In less than a month the world, or at least the environmentally-inclined members of the world, will be in the throes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (</span><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.html">UNCSD</a><span>), or Rio+20. Despite the official summit focus on the green economy and sustainable development, there are many groups and individuals working hard to turn attention toward population growth.</span></p><p><span>There are a handful of population side events occurring on-site that are not part of the official talks (see below). According to the UNCSD website, more than <a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/meetings_sidevents.html#">500 on-site side events</a> have been organized by governments, UN Major Groups, organizations from the UN system and other international organizations and will take place in the lead-up to the conference and during the summit itself. Of course there will be many events dealing with population-related issues (i.e., gender equity, women’s health, inequality), but only a few address the population component directly, at least from the event descriptions. We will list those that do below.</span></p><p><span>The UK Royal Society last month issued <a href="http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/people-planet/">a r</a><a href="http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/people-planet/">eport</a> urging the world to address population, consumption, and environment issues at Rio+20. The importance of linking these issues was recognized at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, but has not been adequately dealt with in recent years. This is unfortunate, as human population numbers are still growing, people are consuming more and more, and the environment is increasingly plundered for resources to meet these demands.</span></p><p><span>Royal Society scientists, along with the <a href="http://www.unfpa.org/public/">United Nations Population Fund</a> (UNFPA), will be hosting a side event and discussing how “rapid and widespread changes in the world’s population, coupled with unprecedented levels of consumption present profound challenges to human health and well-being, and to the natural environment.” They state that the “combination of these factors is likely to have long-lasting consequences for our finite planet.” This program, coming early in the series of Rio events, will hopefully reach and influence some UN and government officials.</span></p><p><span>If there is to be any success in creating a healthy planet, efforts to stabilize population growth must be part of Rio+20. While the global rate of population growth has slowed, approximately 80 million people are still added to the planet every year. Most of that growth will be in Sub-Saharan Africa. <span>Globally, t</span>here could be a total of 9.3 billion people by 2050. But if the world takes action in Rio and addresses the impacts of population growth, it could keep that number down to 8 billion people and make a sustainable future far more likely for future generations.</span></p><p><span>A crucial piece of this is recognizing and improving rights of women and girls. Countries need to make greater i<span><span>nvestments in women and girls, including family planning and reproductive health, education, general healthcare, land rights, improved gender equality, and economic development. This is also a cost-effective way to significantly slow population growth and improve lives. And by investing in programs to alleviate poverty – combined with empowering women to make their own choices in family planning – the payoff will be stabilizing population growth, a factor in improving economic conditions and overall quality of life.</span></span></span></p><p><span>Decision-makers at Rio+20 should put their efforts into lifting the world’s poorest 1.3 billion people out of poverty, improve the rights of women and girls and support ways to empower them<span>, positively address population growth through family planning and reproductive health, reduce unsustainable levels of consumption (including alternatives to Gross Domestic Product), and overall implement approaches that protect people and the planet.</span></span></p><p><span>If you are going to be in Rio, or are just curious what population-related side events are taking place, below are some currently listed on the <a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/meetings_sidevents.html#">UNCSD site</a>.</span></p><p> </p><p><span><span><strong>Population-specific Side Events</strong></span></span></p><p><span><strong>June 13, 2012:</strong></span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=1000&nr=424&menu=126"><span><em><strong>People and the Planet: Population, Consumption and the Environment</strong></em></span></a></span></p><p><span>This event by the UK Royal Society will focus on the linkages between population, consumption and the environment. It will demonstrate the importance of considering both demographic variables and consumption patterns if sustainable development goals are to be achieved.</span></p><p><span><strong>June 16, 2012:</strong></span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=1000&nr=471&menu=126"><span><em><strong>From Rio to Cairo to Rio… and Beyond</strong></em></span></a></span></p><p><span>Population dynamics have significant influence on sustainable development. However, little integration of population dynamics and environmentally sustainable development plans and programs has been achieved. Climate change has become the face of the international discourse on environmental sustainability, and it is increasingly seen as a major threat to sustainable development in Africa. Convened by Population Action International</span></p><p><span><strong>June 17, 2012:</strong></span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=1000&nr=201&menu=126"><span><em><strong>Population, Rights and Sustainability: Voices from the Global South</strong></em></span></a></span></p><p><span>This workshop will focus on the perspectives of Voices from the South on how addressing population dynamics at national and community levels in ways that respect and protect human rights can make a significant contribution to global sustainable development goals.</span></p><p><span><strong>June 18, 2012:</strong></span></p><p><span><em><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=1000&nr=463&menu=126"><span><strong>Sustainability Revisited: Population, Reproductive Health & the Planet</strong></span></a></em><span><br /></span></span></p><p><span>Mary Robinson and the Aspen Institute’s Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health (GLC) will convene an official side event to raise the profile of human development, gender and reproductive health within the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.</span></p><p><span><strong>June 18, 2012:</strong></span></p><p><span><em><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=1000&nr=469&menu=126"><span><span><span><strong>Healthy Women, Healthy Planet: Women’s Empowerment, Reproductive Health</strong></span></span></span></a></em></span></p><p><span>Access to reproductive health and family planning is an important part of strengthening women’s capacity as leaders in sustainable development, yet in too many places around the world women’s access to these services is limited. Reducing unintended pregnancies and giving families the tools to determine family size can improve socio-economic status of women, reduce strain on the environment, and improve conservation of resources – all of which make significant contributions to sustainable development and resilience in the face of a changing climate.</span></p><p><span><strong>June 19, 2012:</strong></span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=1000&nr=472&menu=126"><span><span><span><em><span><strong>Youth SRHR in the Context of Sustainable Development</strong></span></em></span></span></span></a></span></p><p><span><span>When women have power over if, when and how many children to have, communities are better equipped to adapt sustainably, access education and health, and manage community resources. Yet, in some regions young women ages 15-19 are twice as likely to lack access to the contraception they want and need as women over twenty. Collectively, we as young people have a critical role to play in the shaping policies and programs surrounding young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, and a just and sustainable world.</span></span></p><p><span><strong>June 22, 2012:</strong></span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=1000&nr=319&menu=126"><span><span><span><em><span><strong>Dynamics of Rio: Population, Women and Rights</strong></span></em></span></span></span></a></span></p><p><span>The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the Government of Denmark in collaboration with the Government of Brazil (TBC) and proposes the ‘Dynamics of Rio: Population, Women and Rights’ Side Event. The high level Side Event brings together a high level panel of governments and civil society to ensure that the Rio+20 outcome document highlights the centrality of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to sustainable development.</span></p><p> </p><p lang="zxx" align="left" xml:lang="zxx"><span><span><span><em><span><span>Suzanne York is a senior writer with the Institute for Population Studies/<a title="HowMany.org" href="http://www.howmany.org/" target="_blank">HowMany.org</a></span></span></em></span></span></span></p></div>Degrowth and Population Growth: Strengthening the Tieshttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/profiles/blogs/degrowth-and-population-growth-strengthening-the-ties2012-05-30T19:30:00.000Z2012-05-30T19:30:00.000ZHowMany.orghttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/members/HowManyorg<div><p><strong>By Suzanne York, <a title="HowMany.org" href="http://howmany.org/" target="_blank">HowMany.org</a>, May 30, 2012</strong></p><p></p><p>During a week spent ensconced in the depths of the concept of degrowth at the <a href="http://montreal.degrowth.org/"><em>Degrowth in the Americas</em></a> conference, it was encouraging to find that population issues were interwoven into plenaries and workshops throughout the week. The issue is often viewed as taboo and/or the elephant in the room, yet it is a crucial part of a discussion framed around economics and planetary limits.</p><p></p><p>But first, a little bit about the idea of degrowth. Though it has been talked about since the 1970s, it has been gaining in popularity since a 2008 meeting in Paris and 2010 in Barcelona. There really isn’t one official definition, but most would agree that degrowth may be <a href="http://degrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Schneider_Crisis-or-opportunity.pdf">defined</a> as an equitable down-scaling of production and consumption that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions at the local and global level, both in the short and long term. Stabilizing population growth and reducing human impact on the planet is a big part of this.</p><p></p><p>Joan Martinez-Alier, an economist and professor at Autonomous University of Barcelona, said in his plenary talk that the degrowth literature is not comfortable with discussing population. In his opinion, people don’t want to be seen as “Malthusian.” He felt that the degrowth movement should support women’s reproductive rights and build upon the idea of eco-feminism, based on works by Emma Goldman, Madeleine Pelletier, and Françoise d’Eaubonne in the 20<sup>th</sup> century.</p><p></p><p>Perhaps the most anticipated plenary speech was given by David Suzuki (picture above), the award-winning Canadian scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster. He said that for most of human existence we were aware of our place in the natural world. In 1900 there were only 1.5 billion people on the planet; today there are 7 billion. Suzuki noted that there were never a billion mammals of any kind before (much less 7 billion). Due to technology and trade, we have broken this threshold.</p><p></p><p>William Rees, an ecologist and ecological economist, told the audience that continuous growth, whether it be population or economic, “is an anomaly”. Humans are biased toward unsustainable behavior; unless or until constrained by negative feedback, humans, like all other species, will expand to fill all accessible habitat and use all available resources. We will push up against the carrying capacity of whatever environment in which we find ourselves. The Living Planet Index reported a decline in the planet’s biodiversity of 28% from 1970 to 2008. Rees, developer of the ecological footprint, said that about 80% of the human ecological footprint is attributable to high income consumers. Rich countries have “a moral and ethical responsibility” to curb consumption.</p><p></p><p>Holly Dressel, an author and professor at McGill University, said bottom up population strategies are the only thing that really work in terms of stabilizing human population numbers. For 99% of human history, according to Dressel, population has been low and steady. She noted that Indigenous communities learned how to live within their means and within what natural systems can produce. Indigenous people can be seen as the original degrowth people, practicing restraint in terms of the number of children and management of their environment.</p><p></p><p>It’s crucial, Dressel said, that “any talk about limiting population has to come from women”, who have the most at stake. When women are allowed the choice things seem to get at least marginally better.</p><p></p><p>“We are a geological force on the planet,” Suzuki said, due to our numbers, technology, consumption levels, and intellectual muscle. Despite this, “there is no way we can manage nature.” The popular scientist ended his talk by saying that we don’t know enough to say it’s too late (for humans and the planet) and that “nature can surprise us and be far more forgiving than we deserve.”</p><p> </p><p><em>Suzanne York is a senior writer with the Institute for Population Studies/<a title="HowMany.org" href="http://howmany.org/" target="_blank">HowMany.org</a></em></p></div>Dispatch from Degrowthhttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/profiles/blogs/dispatch-from-degrowth2012-05-22T20:25:29.000Z2012-05-22T20:25:29.000ZHowMany.orghttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/members/HowManyorg<div><p lang="en-us" align="center" xml:lang="en-us"><b style="font-size:medium;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Suzanne York, <a href="http://www.howmany.org/" target="_blank">HowMany.org</a>, May 16, 2012</b></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8095726468,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="250" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8095726468,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-right" alt="8095726468?profile=original" /></a>Many topics were under discussion at the second full day of <i>Degrowth in the Americas</i> Conference: finance and degrowth, transition towns, resilient communities, public banking, and much more.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">The topic that most resonated with me, most likely because of their perspective on living in harmony with nature, was indigenous perspectives on degrowth. Robert Lovelace (pictured at right) of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, a soft-spoken teacher from Queen’s University in Ontario, began the discussion with a sad overview of past prominent white views on nature and indigenous peoples. John Milton, in <i>Paradise Lost</i>, wrote that the natural world is debased and naturally evil. Thomas Hobbs observed that the natural state of mankind is poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Even John Locke dismissed indigenous peoples as inferior.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">Lovelace stated that capitalism works within colonialism and racism and cannot work without subjugation of indigenous groups of people and environment in which they live (and, I would add, holding down the 99%). He believed Locke failed to realize that the domestication of human labor would lead to unsustainable exponential increases in human populations (mainly due to increasing wealth) or to see the consequences of pollution, environmental degradation and climate change which would be brought about through the commodification of the commons. It is crucial, according to Lovelace, that we “reconfigure our environment.”</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">Lovelace talked about how, from an indigenous perspective, environment determines culture - from the use of energy to food security to population levels (traditionally kept low to be in balance with nature). He laid out his formula for how we should live: 1) never consume more matter than can be restored through “replenishment cycles” in a particular ecosystem and 2) never expend more energy than what you be replaced by what you consume. Both of these conditions, he said, “are mitigated by cultural knowledge.”</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">His last point could be a theme of the degrowth/localization/alternative economies movements, in that the solutions to the problems we face are found in the social and cultural realms as opposed to the political and technology sectors. Essentially, we can’t buy our way out or create enough technology to save the planet.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">Marcelo Saavedra-Vargas, a professor at the University of Ottawa and originally from Bolivia, said that we need to decolonize our minds in addition to ‘degrow’, for the sake of future generations. He also said something that I heard again later in the day from a completely different workshop and speaker - that hope is paralyzing and it prevents people from taking action and overcoming problems. And action is instrumental if our society is going to change.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">The indigenous viewpoint is taken seriously at the Degrowth conference, as are all positions. The event even kicked off with a Mohawk Thanksgiving address. Given how for the most part indigenous peoples have strived to live in harmony with nature for so many years, participants from all fields and backgrounds - from stabilizing population growth to creating local food systems to environmental governance can learn much from native knowledge.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">Professor Saavedra-Vargas ended his discussion with an Aymara saying which is appropriate for the conference and for the world: <i>Suma Qamaña</i>, which means live and coexist well.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3"><span><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us"><i><span>Suzanne York is a Senior Writer with the Institute for Population Studies,<a href="http://www.howmany.org/" target="_blank">www.howmany.org</a></span></i></span></font></font></span></font></font></font></p></div>Degrowth in the Americas: Understanding and Changing Our Worldviewhttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/profiles/blogs/degrowth-in-the-americas-understanding-and-changing-our-worldview2012-05-15T21:19:42.000Z2012-05-15T21:19:42.000ZHowMany.orghttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/members/HowManyorg<div><p lang="en-us" align="center" xml:lang="en-us"><b style="font-size:medium;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Suzanne York, <a href="Degrowth%20in%20the%20Americas%3A%20Understanding%20and%20Changing%20Our%20Worldview" target="_blank">HowMany.org</a>, May 15, 2012</b></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" style="text-align:left;" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8095725897,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}8095725897,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="305" class="align-right" alt="8095725897?profile=original" /></a>A full agenda was on tap here at the first main day of the <a href="http://montreal.degrowth.org/" target="_blank">Degrowth in the Americas conference</a>. Below is some of what was discussed at the morning session, which set the stage for this week-long event.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">It kicked off with a showing of the film <a href="http://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/"><font color="#000099"><i><u>Journey of the Universe</u></i></font></a>, a thought-provoking piece on how the universe and humans came to be, and how a new narrative can be created from our connection to the world. Produced by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, both with the <a href="http://environment.yale.edu/"><font color="#000099"><u>Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies</u></font></a> and authors of numerous publications ranging from indigenous wisdom to religion to ecology, it fuses science and the humanities to define a new sense of meaning in our world. It is much more than simply a primer on how Earth came to exist; it provides an enhanced understanding that humans, nature and the universe are one.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">A plenary panel after the film proved just as interesting. Tucker and Grim were joined by ecological economist William Rees. Also an ecologist, he is the originator and co-developer of the ecological footprint analysis, a much-used tool for measuring our carbon footprint on the planet. Rees talked about how our economic system is incompatible with the ways of the universe. Our whole way of life relies upon a steady input of energy and materials imported from outside to maintain ourselves, which unfortunately means the importation of more energy and materials than the ecosystem can produce. “Everything we produce in our economy requires destruction of nature,” Rees said.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">Tucker and Grim hope that their film promotes a different narrative or map, and see it as an opportunity to rewrite our human story based on a new sense of economics and ecology, while incorporating traditional wisdom. A story is an invitation to change, Tucker said, and a chance to draw on cultural systems, human creativity, arts, spirituality, and more. And, she stressed, “We need to get the story right.”</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">Rees also touched upon what he views as two unique qualities to humans - that we have the capacity for higher intellect and the capacity for forward planning. “If we fail to use them, we will not have risen to the full challenge of what it means to be human.” What he was saying, essentially, was that humans should use what we know about the universe and the collapse of previous civilizations to head off disaster. What is really standing in our way, he said, is an enormous barrier put up by the 1%, who benefit from the status quo, to undermine the current narrative of what we really need to do.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3">Rees’ economics-based position contrasted with and complimented Tucker and Grim's views. Both together point towards what is truly needed: a blending of science, spirituality, history, and ingenuity to overcome our pressing problems. We have the means and ability. We just need to find ways to express it so that the 99% of people who aren’t benefiting from environmental destruction and excessive wealth can better grasp what is at stake, and perhaps more importantly, understand where humans came from and where we can go.</font></font></font></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"></p><p lang="en-us" align="left" xml:lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="3"><span><font size="2"><i>Suzanne York is a Senior Writer with the Institute for Population Studies, <a href="http://www.howmany.org/" target="_blank">www.howmany.org</a></i></font></span></font></font></font></p></div>The Right Path for People and the Planet: Putting Population and Consumption Back on the Agendahttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-right-path-for-people-and-the-planet-putting-population-and2012-05-14T21:54:42.000Z2012-05-14T21:54:42.000ZHowMany.orghttps://sustainablecoco.ning.com/members/HowManyorg<div><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:medium;" class="font-size-3">By Suzanne York, <a href="http://www.howmany.org/" target="_blank">HowMany.org</a>, May 14, 2012</span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><i><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8095725079,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}8095725079,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="260" class="align-right" alt="8095725079?profile=original" /></a>People and the Planet</i> a report by the U.K.'s Royal Society, does not break any new ground, but it does a good job of putting some important and overlooked issues back on the international agenda.</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, says in the foreword that the hope is for the report to be “a springboard for further discussion and action by national and international Governments, scientific bodies, non-governmental organizations, the media and many others.”</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">This is a clear overview of the impacts of human population and consumption on the planet – essentially that population needs to be stabilized, unsustainable consumption in the most developed countries must be reduced, and we must lift the 1.3 billion poorest people out of extreme poverty. In other words, initiatives the world should be undertaking anyway to improve lives.</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">The timing of the report is crucial. The 23 scientists who contributed to <i>People and the Planet</i> urgently recommend putting the population-consumption-environment link on the agenda for the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this June. This connection was recognized in the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, but has been pushed off the international agenda ever since. Now it is needed more than ever before; human population numbers are still growing and the environment is increasingly plundered for resources to satisfy consumer appetites.</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">So it is two steps forward, three steps back. The world had already agreed two decades ago on the urgency of curbing unsustainable consumption and stabilizing population. The 1992</font> <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><i>Rio Declaration on Environment and Development</i></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif">, Principle 8, acknowledged that</font> <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">“</font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.”</font></font> <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3"><i>Agenda 21</i></font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">, the blueprint for sustainable development that also came out of Rio in 1992, <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/res_agenda21_05.shtml">stated</a> “The growth of world population and production combined with unsustainable consumption patterns places increasingly severe stress on the life-supporting capacities of our planet.”</font></font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">The Royal Society scientists simply and forthrightly state that “The relationship between population, consumption and the environment is not straightforward, as the natural environment and human socio-economic systems are complex in their own right.”</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Writers with</font> <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><i>The Economist</i></font> <font face="Arial, sans-serif">and</font> <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><i>Forbes</i></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif">, supporters of continuing economic growth, unsurprisingly ridiculed much of the report. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/apr/26/royal-society-report-consumption-population">Others</a> have said we should not worry, human ingenuity will save us from the deleterious effects of our population and consumption. No doubt, human prowess and innovation/technology will solve some of the problems facing the world. Yet the reality is that we live on one planet with finite resources and shouldn't place all our bets on technology and the market. The report's authors conclude that “The combined effects of market forces and new technologies are not able to overcome planetary boundaries on the scale necessary to avoid unsustainable pressure on the planet and much human suffering.”</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">It comes down to supporting well-being for both people and the planet. Inclusive, holistic, grassroots, and democratic approaches are ways to improve lives, communities, and the ecosystem.</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Others have echoed similar positions. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, in support of the report, <a href="http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs//2012/120501_Population.doc.htm">said</a> that the solution required dramatic changes in behavior, as well as investment in sustainable resources, technologies and infrastructure. And, he emphasized, “It also required broad commitment to social justice and equity.”</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Some of this has fallen off the international radar, but there's still time and fortunately the will to bring it back into the light.</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">In the words of Sir John Sulston, a Nobel Laureate and chair of the <i>People and the Planet</i> working group, "Humanity must now act collectively and constructively if we are to face the future with confidence."</font></span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>Suzanne York is a Senior Writer with the Institute for Population Studies, <a href="http://www.howmany.org/" target="_blank">www.howmany.org</a></i></font></font></span></p></div>