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Important piece from @GeorgeMonbiot - of course climate change is driven by overconsumption in the rich world, not overpopulation in the majority world
But he makes another, often forgotten point... (1/n) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/26/panic-overpopulation-climate-crisis-consumption-environment
But he makes another, often forgotten point... (1/n) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/26/panic-overpopulation-climate-crisis-consumption-environment
He says "in some parts of the world, population growth is a major driver of particular kinds of ecological damage, such as the expansion of small-scale agriculture into rainforests, the bushmeat trade and local pressure on water and land for housing." (2/n)
When people say environmental problems are caused by consumption not population, they are confusing 'environment' with 'climate', and forgetting about the nature/ecological crisis
That's dangerously oversimplistic at best. At worst, it's denial (3/n)
That's dangerously oversimplistic at best. At worst, it's denial (3/n)
In Madagascar, some of the world's most biodiversity-rich forests are being degraded to produce charcoal for domestic consumption - it is not exported, but used by poor people to cook. Rich-world consumption is not to blame (4/n) https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/changing-livelihoods-and-protected-area-management-a-case-study-of-charcoal-production-in-southwest-madagascar/88F8B56B1AC6F9093B2D4D281217DCC1
While tropical deforestation in SE Asia & parts of S America is driven by industrial agriculture (for rich world consumption), in much of Africa and elsewhere it is driven by smallholders growing for subsistence and local trade (5/n)
In many parts of the tropics, human populations are higher than the land can sustainably support, leading to massive degradation of ecosystems
It still might not be as big a problem for biodiversity as rich world consumption, but it should not be ignored (6/n)
It still might not be as big a problem for biodiversity as rich world consumption, but it should not be ignored (6/n)
Even if you don't think overpopulation is a problem, providing women in the majority world with access to education and reproductive healthcare is critically important
To dismiss overpopulation as an issue risks ignoring the unmet needs of women in the majority world (7/7)
To dismiss overpopulation as an issue risks ignoring the unmet needs of women in the majority world (7/7)
