Podcasts and PowerPoint Presentations From “Population Growth and Rising Consumption: What’s Sustainable?”
You can now see Podcasts and PowerPoint presentations from “Population Growth and Rising Consumption: What’s Sustainable?” Sponsored by the Population Institute, the Population Media Center and the Wallace Global Fund, the forum featured five prominent experts on population, economics and sustainability.
The Population Media Center, the Population Institute
and the Wallace Global Fund
Invite you to a Public Forum
“Population Growth and Rising Consumption: What’s Sustainable?”
October 6, 2009
9:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m
(Registration begins at 8:45)
Barbara Jordan Conference Center
Kaiser Family Foundation
1330 G St. NW
Washington, DC 20005-3004
Speakers include:
William Catton Jr., author of Bottleneck: the Human Impasse (2009)
Laurie Mazur, editor of A Pivotal Moment: Human Population,
the Environmental Crisis and the Justice Solution (2009)
Peter Victor, York University, author of Managing without Growth (2008)
Dennis Meadows, author of Limits to Growth (1972) and
Limits to Growth: the 30 Year Update (2002)
Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute, author of Peak Everything:
Waking Up to the Century of Declines (2007)
Robert Engelman, WorldWatch Institute, author of
More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want (2008)
Podcasts Available (via iTunes) here:
http://www.populationinstitute.org/newsroom/podcasts/
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=336366164
PowerPoint Slides Available here:
http://www.populationinstitute.org/newsroom/news/view/25/
A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice and the Environmental Challenge Edited by Laurie Mazur
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Jaime Jennings, 202-232-7933×44
EMAIL jjennings@islandpress.org
WEBSITE www.popjustice.org
PRESS RELEASE
A Pivotal Moment:
Population, Justice and the Environmental Challenge
Edited by Laurie Mazur
“Here’s the book on population we’ve been waiting for–a clearheaded and smart look at the ways that justice, anti-materialism, and women’s rights can help limit both our numbers and their impact.”
— Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy
“Should be required reading for national and global leaders …. a compelling, evidence-based case for reproductive health and rights”
—Geeta Rao Gupta, president, International Center for Research on Women
“People count and numbers matter – and this book is a classic call to action we cannot afford to ignore if we care about the well being of current and future generations.”
— Dr. Gill Greer, director-general, International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Washington, DC (November 9, 2009) — Did you know that…
- · We add 75 million to 80 million people to the world’s population every year, the equivalent of another U.S. every four years or so?
- · The largest generation of young people in history—three billion strong—is now coming of age?
- · Their choices–and their options– will shape their futures, and to some extent, the future for all of us?
We are living in a pivotal moment, say the authors of this groundbreaking collection of essays. Many are aware that we have a brief window of time to address climate change and other environmental problems. But it is less well known that we are at a similar moment for world population: choices made today will determine whether human numbers—now at 6.8 billion—grow to 8 billion or even 11 billion by 2050.
“Eight billion would be better than 11 billion–for human beings and the natural systems that sustain us,” says Laurie Mazur, editor of A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice, and the Environmental Challenge. “The good news,” she adds, “is that the best means to slow population growth are all important ends in themselves.” Around the world, we must ensure access to family planning and reproductive health services, empower women, and promote sustainable, equitable development. We must invest in education and opportunity for the young men and women of the largest generation in history. In short, we must position social justice and human rights at the center of population policy.
A Pivotal Moment views the complex connection between population and the environment through a lens of social justice. The book includes contributions by a diverse group of demographers, environmentalists and reproductive health advocates. Essays include, among others:
- Foreword by Timothy E. Wirth;
- Joel E. Cohen on 21st century demographics;
- Robert Engelman on population growth and climate change;
- Carmen Barroso and Steven Sinding on the unfinished revolution in reproductive health;
- Susana Chavez Alvarado on the lessons learned from misguided “population control” in Peru;
- Lester R. Brown on the obstacles to feeding a growing population;
- Priscilla Huang on the “greening” of the anti-immigration movement;
- Adrienne Germain on mobilizing for reproductive health and rights;
- James Gustave Speth on moving from environmental crisis to sustainability; and
- Ellen Chesler on the central role of women in building a sustainable future.
With these essays and others, A Pivotal Moment presents the latest research on the relationship between population growth and climate change, ecosystem health and other environmental issues. It surveys the new demographic landscape–in which population growth rates have fallen, but human numbers continue to increase. It looks back at the troubling history of “population control,” and forward to population policies that are sustainable and just.
“Now, more than ever, population affects everything from the pressing threat of climate change to the drain on our dwindling natural resources,” says Charles Savitt, president and publisher of Island Press. “Population is a complicated issue, but Laurie Mazur and her team of experts present concrete solutions that will benefit both individuals and the planet.”
Editor Laurie Mazur is the director of the Population Justice Project. She is the editor of Beyond the Numbers: A Reader on Population, Consumption, and the Environment (Island Press, 1994) and co-author of Marketing Madness: A Survival Guide for a Consumer Society (Westview, 1995).
Island Press was established in 1984 to stimulate, shape, and communicate the ideas that are essential for solving environmental problems. Publishing approximately 40 books and other information tools a year, we use a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed approach that brings practical solutions to complex challenges like climate change, the depletion of our oceans, sustainable energy and agriculture, and species extinction. A nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, Island Press publishes for scientists, policymakers, environmental practitioners, students, journalists, and the general public. Island Press – Solutions that inspire change.
A Pivotal Moment
Edited by Laurie Mazur
An Island Press Hardcover and Paperback
Publication Date: December 1, 2009
Available at www.islandpress.org or www.popjustice.org
###
Laurie Mazur
Laurie Mazur, Director of the Population Justice Project, is an independent writer and consultant specializing in population, environment, and sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. Her clients have included the Environmental Grantmakers Association, the Pew Global Stewardship Initiative, the Rockefeller Foundation, Communications Consortium Media Center, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Ford Foundation. She is the editor of A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice & The Environmental Challenge (Island Press, 2009). She is also the editor of Beyond the Numbers: A Reader on Population, Consumption and the Environment (Island Press, 1994), a contributed volume that explored and articulated the Cairo consensus. With Michael Jacobson, she co-authored Marketing Madness: A Survival Guide to a Consumer Society (Westview Press, 1995), an indictment of excesses in advertising and marketing. Mazur founded and, for several years, directed the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights, an association of grantmakers that seeks to improve communication, foster collaboration, increase resources and enhance the overall effectiveness of grantmakers in this field.
Book Tour Begins
The Population Justice Environment book tour begins! PJP is partnering with the Sierra Club, Advocates for Youth, the International Women’s Health Coalition and others to host events on campuses nationwide. The book tour features interactive workshops, panel presentations and trainings on the connections among population growth, sexual and reproductive health and rights, environmental protection and global justice. Find an event near you.
Dr. Gill Greer, Director-General, International Planned Parenthood Federation
“A Pivotal Moment demonstrates the possibility of building a sustainable, more equitable future…. People count and numbers matter – and this book is a classic call to action we cannot afford to ignore if we care about the well being of current and future generations.”
Jerry Mander, Founder and Distinguished Fellow, International Forum on Globalization; author, In the Absence of the Sacred
“Finally, a book that maps the complex connections among population growth, climate change, resource depletion, globalization, inequity and overconsumption. No simple-minded solutions are offered in this revelatory work….It should be mandatory reading not only in academia, but for all public policy advocates seeking sustainable pathways for the future.”
Geeta Rao Gupta, president, International Center for Research on Women
“This book, with chapters by world-renowned experts, should be required reading for national and global leaders …. It provides a compelling, evidence-based case for reproductive health and rights as a critical part of the solution to build a better and more sustainable future for all.”
Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy
“Here’s the book on population we’ve been waiting for–not a nativist screed that lays the blame for our environmental woes on overbreeding others, but a clearheaded and smart look at the ways that justice, anti-materialism, and women’s rights can help limit both our numbers and their impact.”
The GROWTH Act
Investing in women is one of the surest routes to end poverty in the developing world. The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act (GROWTH) would make U.S. policy a driver of positive change for women around the world. Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswomen Lowey (D-NY) and Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and in the U.S. Senate by Senators Durbin (D-IL) and Hutchison (R-TX), the GROWTH Act would remove a range of barriers that prevent women from participating actively in their countries’ economies.