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The Last Lap
'); document.write('What do responsible environmental behaviour and practice look like, especially for those of us who despair of effective policies being enacted by the current generation of political elites? This paper provides a personal response to the ethical and policy dilemma of our times. I attempt to explain what may seem like – and possibly is – entirely self-indulgent behaviour on the basis that I can make absolutely no difference at the sort of macro level that is needed to ‘save the planet’. In the process I try to explain why thousands of others have made similar choices and why cooperation even amongst well-intentioned and informed individuals is so hard and unlikely to succeed.'); document.write('
Editorial Introduction
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Graphical Presentation of the Steady-state Economy Model
'); document.write('There are several theories claiming that their policies can save the planet from environmental catastrophe. This paper claims that it is only the Steady-State Economy model on which such reasonably effective expectations can be based. This is so for two reasons. First, the SSE is based on a clearly defined economic model which is presented graphically and briefly analysed. Second, it includes a policy proposal for reducing the size of global population. This is now approaching eight billion people and is expected to exceed nine billion in the next thirty years. The logic of the SSE suggests that stabilising population is not sufficient. The global population should actually be reduced if environmental balance is to be restored.'); document.write('
Population and Sustainability: Reviewing the Relationship Between Population Growth and Environmental Change
'); document.write('At a high level of abstraction, causally connecting population growth and environmental degradation is intuitively appealing. However, while it is clear that population size is a critical factor in the size and power of social systems, and hence in environmental impact, the relationship between human numbers and environmental change is complex. In particular, the long timescales involved in population growth and decline, along with the shifting role of economic development in both population growth itself and environmental impact, obfuscate the role of population size as a multiplier of impact. Moreover, the protracted nature of demographic change makes population size seem like an intractable problem, the outcome of natural processes which are not only beyond choice, but, critically, morally perilous. In this review of the role of population size in environmental impact, I argue that choices, norms, and values, as well as material factors, are interwoven and inseparable in the environmental impact of our species. Furthermore, the consideration of human welfare and wellbeing is central to arguments regarding an environmentally sustainable population.'); document.write('
A Wager on Global Food Prices 2001–2020: Who Won and What Does it Mean?
'); document.write('This paper presents the results of a 2011 wager between Stan Becker and David Lam about the trajectory of world food prices for the period 2011–2020 versus the period 2002–2010. The wager was a response to Lam’s 2011 presidential address to the Population Association of America, which showed that many health and socio-demographic indicators had improved over the previous fifty years, in spite of the addition of four billion people to the world’s population. Lam lost the wager, with the Food and Agriculture Organization’s price index for five food groups averaging about twenty per cent higher for 2011–2020 than for 2001–2010. Becker and Lam discuss the background of the wager, give their differing interpretations of the outcome and discuss future trends in population, food production and food prices. Lam gives a more optimistic perspective on future trends, while Becker raises concerns about rapid degradation of planetary ecosystems, species loss and global warming.'); document.write('
Public Perceptions on Population: U.S. Survey Results
'); document.write('The Center for Biological Diversity conducted a paid, self-selected, national online survey on the knowledge, attitudes, behavioural intentions and norms around population growth to inform a theory of change that highlights education and reproductive healthcare as solutions. We surveyed 899 people across the US. The sample was recruited via MTurk and Survey Monkey was used to collect the data. Results were segmented by demographics to assist in building culturally sensitive, inclusive and effective campaigns advocating for rights-based solutions to population growth. Results demonstrated that the public draws a correlation between the number of people on the planet and the alarming rate of animal extinction.'); document.write('
Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Linkage Between Reproductive Rights and Environmental Sustainability
'); document.write('The fulfilment of reproductive health and rights may have a synergistic relationship to environmental sustainability because it leads to lower fertility levels. With this in mind, and with the objective of increasing the legitimacy, funding and acceptance of reproductive health and rights, I conducted a mixed-methods qualitative study consisting of an online survey followed by in-depth interviews. I reached out to two groups of participants: stakeholders of the reproductive health and rights movement, and stakeholders of the environmental sustainability movement. I explored how stakeholders perceived the linkages between family planning, population growth and environmental sustainability. Results indicate that these stakeholders overwhelmingly support the integration of the reproductive health and rights ideological framework in a wider sustainability frame reflecting environmental considerations. I identified three barriers to both addressing and implementing the linkage: responsibility allocation injustice, colonialism and discrimination, and marginalisation. Environmental sustainability and reproductive health and rights stakeholders appear in favour of applying what could be considered ‘environmental mainstreaming’ to the reproductive health and rights field. Environmental sustainability stakeholders were more likely than reproductive health and rights stakeholders, who were more divided on this issue, to endorse the linkage and related concepts.'); document.write('
Post-materialism as a basis for achieving environmental sustainability
'); document.write('A recent article in this journal, \'Achieving a Post-Growth Green Economy\', argued that a turn to post-material values by younger generations may be setting the stage for a more environmentally friendly, post-growth green global economy. To expand the foundations for the possible emergence of such an economy, the current article offers empirical evidence from the World Values Survey for the propositions that individual post-material values and experiences leads to (1) a reduction in consumption-oriented activities, (2) a shift to more environmentally friendly forms of life that include living at higher, more energy efficient urban densities, (3) having families with fewer children, and (4) greater political support for environmental improvement. Such behavioral shifts provide a foundation for a no-growth, or even a negative-growth, economy among the affluent nations of the world leading to declining rates of energy and materials throughput to the benefit of a healthier global biosphere.'); document.write('