Population Matters

This week we have a seed of hope that's particularly close to my heart (and my legs...). We're going to take a look at the huge numbers of people sharing this planet, and how that number can become stable, in a way that maximises well-being and happiness for all.

There are over 7.6 billion of us alive today, and that number is rising fast. This is resulting in the plethora of environmental problems we are seeing today - biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution and habitat loss. Thankfully, the world is recognising that this is not a good situation to be in, so there are all sorts of policies, charities and initiatives with the goal of ethically creating a stable and sustainable human population.

Today we are going to focus on one of these charities:

"Population Matters is a UK-based charity which campaigns to achieve a sustainable human population, to protect the natural world and improve people’s lives. 

We promote positive, practical, ethical solutions – encouraging smaller families, inspiring people to consume sustainably, and helping us all to live within our planet’s natural limits. We believe everyone should have the freedom and ability to choose a smaller family. We support human rights, women’s empowerment and global justice.

Through our campaigning, advocacy and education work we are influencing policymakers, communities and individuals to make the changes needed for a healthy planet and a good quality of life for all, now and in the future."

Population Matters show how the biggest environmental difference a person can make, is to have fewer children. Currently, the total fertility rate (TFR - births per woman) is 2.5. A TFR of 2.1 is at replacement rate, meaning the population remains level. As you can see in the graph below, even small changes to TFR have a huge impact on population projections.

This graphs shows how it is entirely possible to solve this problem - reducing the birth rate by only 0.5 will actually decrease the population by 2100!

In April 2019 I will be running the London marathon for Population Matters, with the goal of raising £1000. If you'd like to help, click here. This money will be used by the charity to "continue spreading awareness of the positive impact having a smaller family can have, as well as help commission research to convince policy-makers and provide guidance on how best to bring population to sustainable levels, ethically and fairly".

Thanks so much for reading. If you're interested to follow the lead up to the marathon, and to see how fundraising is going, follow me on instagram and twitter!