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Page added on June 11, 2010
Prince of Wales calls for population control in developing world
“In the next 50 years, we face monumental problems as the figures rocket.”
The Prince said the Earth could not “sustain us all”, particularly if a “vast proportion” is consuming natural resources at “Western levels”.
“It would certainly help if the acceleration slowed down, but it would also help if the world reduced its desire to consume.”
Talking about the “micro-credit” schemes developed in Bangladesh, he said: “Interestingly, where the loans are managed by the women of the community, the birth rate has gone down. The impact of these sorts of schemes, of education and the provision of family planning services, has been widespread.
“I fear there is little chance these sorts of schemes can help the plight of many millions of people unless we all face up to the fact more honestly than we do that one of the biggest causes of high birth rates remains cultural.”
He admitted it raised “very difficult moral questions” but suggested we should come to a view that balances “the traditional attitude to the sacred nature of life” with religious teachings that urge humans to “keep within the limits of Nature’s benevolence and bounty”.
4 Comments on "Prince of Wales calls for population control in developing world"
Edpeak on Sat, 12th Jun 2010 10:42 am
No evidence is given that “cultural” is one of the biggest factors..as opposed to poverty causing higher birth rates, but other than that, Charles is saying reasonable things, in fact, it’s just an eyeball grabbing headlines, “population control” makes it sound as if he was advocating something he clearly was NOT advocating (government forcing you etc)
More accurate would be “Prince Charles favors greater use of birth control to moderate population growth”
But “favors birth control” while accurate, isn’t as sexy a headline as him supposedly being in favor of ‘population control’ which is a term that has been used to refer either to birth control, or sometimes, to thinks Charles is NOT advocating, like government forcing fewer kids..
Meanwhile, why isn’t the following on peakoil.com? Loopholes may allow world’s richest countries to avoid anywhere near the emissions cuts our leaders have promised:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/09/rich-nations-increase-emissions-bonn
James on Sat, 12th Jun 2010 10:44 am
You must be kidding. We will ask the developing world to limit their populations so that the pompous, elite,developed world can continue to live like kings. Why not start depopulating the developed world so that Earth can recover overall? It is the developed world that is polluting and destroying the earth with its factories and oil wells. The Gulf Oil Spill and Exxon-Valdez are good examples.
Edpeak on Sat, 12th Jun 2010 10:47 am
Meanwhile good news on the fact we ARE turning the corner on world population:
http://beforeitsnews.com/news/48/822/Good_news_on_World_Population_Ignored,_while_we_give_our_antiquated_economies_a_free_pass.html
is ignored. See e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_population_increase_history.svg
And yes the trend after that chart ends around 2005 did continue, see this December 2009 graph:
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/worldgrgraph.php
Charles seems to understand though by his words about microcredit and helping empower women as well as men, what many in the first world don’t: no need to beat up on the developing world, help them and the positive trend can continue.
Indeed consumption per capita is a much bigger problem, and in the US we use close to twice the oil and energy per capita as much of Europe…a huge place we can go to for savings. I for one don’t enjoy long commutes, being stuck in traffic, or McMansions or Hummers, a lower-cabon lower-energy lifestyle could be HIGHER quality of life.
KenZ300 on Sun, 13th Jun 2010 10:00 am
Over population contributes to over consumption.
How many fish can you put in a fish tank before they start to eat each other?
Resources are limited