Population for a Sustainable Planet

, attended the Western Regional Advocacy Training on Population and the Environment. The program was sponsored by the International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC) and the Sierra Club's Global Population and Environment Program (GPEP). The GPEP is the only environmental group in the US addressing population. I arrived at the training knowing that our finite resources divided by more and more people equals less resources per person. I quickly learned that this was an oversimplified, tip of the iceberg perspective of an overwhelming problem.

The population and environment link covers many areas: resource consumption, climate change, water use, consumerism pollution, deforestation and biodiversity loss. This training was about social justice, or should I say, injustice. Rather than speak of third world countries, the world was divided into 1/3 vs 2/3 nations, the 1/3 developed (the haves) vs the 2/3 undeveloped nations (the have-nots). The excessive consumerism of the haves has left a tidal wave of stress on the natural resources of the earth, and left diminishing resources for the remaining inhabitants of the earth. This activist was sometimes moved to tears by the stark reality of this presented in words, statistics, and pictures. For example, one third of the world lives in areas of water shortage. It is the women who spend one, two, sometimes three hours per day walking to procure water for their families, often at great risk to their personal safety and leaving less time for the traditional family chores or wealth production. They use any container available. Imagine using an old plastic oleo tub to carry your only water.

Breaking the cycle includes addressing our swelling population, which is rapidly approaching a crisis point. Birth rate has many drivers: social norms, religion, and accessibility to birth control, but the biggest factor in determining how many children a woman will have is the woman's level of education. Another factor affecting the birth rate is access to health care (which also includes birth control), hence the focus on women Here is where I rubbed up against another stark reality, as I viewed a UN Population Fund birthing kit. It consisted of a small piece of plastic sheeting, a tiny hotel room size bar of soap, a string to tie the umbilical cord, and a razor to cut the umbilical cord. This has turned out to be a life saver for many mothers and their babies.

The Sierra Club Global Population and Environment Program mission statement 'envisions a world where every person has a good quality of life, with access to education, basic and reproductive health care, and economic and social opportunities.' Joan Holtz led a wonderful TAKE ACTION segment, where she highlighted legislation the Sierra Club supports. We support the Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act ( H.R. 5121) and the Global Democracy Promotion Act (H.R. 4879 and S. 311). If you are interested in working with the GPEP on this legislation, or other matters, please contact Joan Holtz.