To save the planet, poor countries are being asked to have fewer children, according to a disturbing piece of opinion

To save the planet, let’s stop having children! This suggestion is not new (hello Malthusianism) and appears regularly in public debate. In a column published on November 9, 2022 in The world11 scientists (10 men and 1 woman) persist and sign: to combat global warming, the world population must be reduced.

In the face of complex social issues, it can be tempting to wield demagogic arguments. Even if it means hiding some essential elements and spreading ideas that smell of racism.

Ask the countries of the South to have fewer children so that the North can continue to pollute, really?

According to a UN report released in July 2022, the world’s population is expected to exceed 8 billion humans by the end of the year. Can our planet, already in bad shape, support so many people? According to the column of scientists published in The worldglobal resources will soon be insufficient.

Of course, the reasoning may seem logical. We will almost forget that it is aimed exclusively at a segment of the world population, still and always accused of having “too many children” and that it hides the ultra-polluting behavior of countries that nevertheless record fertility rates among the weakest on the planet.

Global warming and rich countries

Currently, the richest 10% of the population is responsible for 50% of CO2 emissions. The forum argues that poorer countries will eventually see their living standards rise, making them consumers and polluters like others. What he does not mention is that a rise in the standard of living naturally leads to a decline in the fertility of the populations concerned. Nor that this standard of living alone is not responsible for all polluting behaviors. According to a study published by Oxfam in 2015, the richest 10% of Indians emit a quarter of the CO2 emitted by the poorest half of the United States.

Polluting countries must honor their commitments

While poorer countries are advised to limit themselves, richer countries continue at all costs to follow a scandalous capitalist model. Even if it means turning some regions of the world into uninhabitable areas and justifying the difficulty of their populations to survive with their too many children.

The agreements made at the various COPs (Conferences of the Parties) to keep temperatures below 2 degrees are not respected. National projects are also failing: in France only 10% of the proposals put forward by the 2019 City Climate Convention have been maintained. And while we advise other countries on how to manage their resources, we ourselves waste 10 million tons of food every year.

What if, before asking certain populations to reproduce less, rich countries started to fulfill their environmental commitments?

Cover photo credit: Pavel Danilyuk of Pexels via Canva.