Optimum Population Trust
Encyclopedia
Population Matters, formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust, is a registered United Kingdom
charity, think tank
, and campaign group concerned with the impact of population growth
on long term sustainability, quality of life and the natural environment
, specifically natural resources
, climate change
and biodiversity
.
Population Matters researches climate change, energy requirements
, biodiversity, and other environmental factors in relation to population numbers. It campaigns for population stabilisation and gradual decrease to sustainable levels for both the world and the United Kingdom. In 2009, the organisation issued a study asserting that contraception was the cheapest way of combating climate change
The trust states that its intermediate aims are: improved provision of family planning
and sex education
, better education
and rights for women, and that couples voluntarily "have two or fewer". For the UK specifically, it advocates greater effort to reduce the high rates of teenage pregnancy
and unintended pregnancy
and that immigration be brought into balance with emigration.
The Optimum Population Trust was founded in 1991 by the late David Willey. It was granted charitable status on 9 May 2006. The working name was changed to Population Matters in February 2011.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
charity, think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
, and campaign group concerned with the impact of population growth
Population growth
Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....
on long term sustainability, quality of life and the natural environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
, specifically natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
, climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
.
Population Matters researches climate change, energy requirements
Energy development
Energy development is the effort to provide sufficient primary energy sources and secondary energy forms for supply, cost, impact on air pollution and water pollution, mitigation of climate change with renewable energy....
, biodiversity, and other environmental factors in relation to population numbers. It campaigns for population stabilisation and gradual decrease to sustainable levels for both the world and the United Kingdom. In 2009, the organisation issued a study asserting that contraception was the cheapest way of combating climate change
The trust states that its intermediate aims are: improved provision of family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
and sex education
Sex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
, better education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and rights for women, and that couples voluntarily "have two or fewer". For the UK specifically, it advocates greater effort to reduce the high rates of teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
and unintended pregnancy
Unintended pregnancy
Unintended pregnancies are those in which conception was not intended by the female sexual partner. Worldwide, 38% of pregnancies were unintended in 1999 . Unintended pregnancies are the primary cause of induced abortion, resulting in about 42 million induced abortions per year...
and that immigration be brought into balance with emigration.
The Optimum Population Trust was founded in 1991 by the late David Willey. It was granted charitable status on 9 May 2006. The working name was changed to Population Matters in February 2011.
Trustees
- Maggie Avison, charity sector professional, currently taking time out to study for a postgraduate degree
- Professor Stephen Bown, Professor of Laser Medicine at University College London.
- Venetia Caine, Newswatch editor, after working in the civil and probation services, teaching, campaigning and voluntary work
- Nina Clarke, International training consultant in language and skills.
- Harry Cripps CEng CEnv FIChemE MEI, Chemical engineer, energy efficiency consultant and chartered environmentalist.
- Professor Colin Gallagher, Chair of a leading UK economic research and strategy consultancy.
- Dr. Pippa Hayes, Full-time general practitioner in Devon and mother of two teenage boys.
- Roger Martin, Former senior diplomat, leading environmentalist in the South-West serving on many green NGOs and quangos.
- Nick Reeves OBE, Executive Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and writer on environmental affairs.
Patrons
- Sir David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
OM CH CVO CBE, Naturalist, broadcaster and trustee of the British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
and Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew; and a former controller of BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio... - Professor Sir Partha DasguptaPartha DasguptaProfessor Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, FRS, FBA , is the Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge; Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and Professor of Environmental and Development Economics at the...
, Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally... - Professor Paul EhrlichPaul R. EhrlichPaul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San... - Baroness Shreela Flather, politician and past mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and MaidenheadRoyal Borough of Windsor and MaidenheadThe Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998.It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland and Ascot Racecourse....
- Dr Jane GoodallJane GoodallDame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
DBE, Founder, Jane Goodall InstituteJane Goodall InstituteThe Jane Goodall Institute is an international wildlife and environment conservation organization with branches in many countries. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Dr...
, and UN Messenger of Peace - Susan HampshireSusan HampshireSusan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...
OBE, Actress and population campaigner - Professor John GuillebaudJohn GuillebaudProfessor John Guillebaud is Emeritus Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health at University College London. He was born in Burundi and brought up in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Britain....
, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health, University College, London. - Dr James LovelockJames LovelockJames Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS is an independent scientist, environmentalist and futurologist who lives in Devon, England. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the biosphere is a self-regulating entity with the capacity to keep our planet healthy by controlling...
CBE, Scientist and environmentalist known for proposing the GaiaGaia hypothesisThe Gaia hypothesis, also known as Gaia theory or Gaia principle, proposes that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet.The scientific investigation of the...
theory that Earth functions as an organism, and author of 'The Revenge of Gaia' - Professor Aubrey ManningAubrey ManningProfessor Aubrey William George Manning OBE FRSE FIBiol is a distinguished English zoologist and broadcaster.-Life:...
OBE, President of the Wildlife Trusts and Emeritus Professor of Natural History, University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university... - Professor Norman MyersNorman MyersNorman Myers BA PhD , is a British environmentalist specialisting in biodiversity. He is an influential figure among policy and institutional circles, although much of his more prominent work - such as on environmental refugees' - is widely viewed as lacking academic credibility...
CMG, Visiting Fellow, Green College, Oxford University, and at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, California UniversityCalifornia UniversityCalifornia University can refer to:* California University of Pennsylvania in the Pittsburgh suburb of California, Pennsylvania* Fictional universities featured in television shows and movies such as Beverly Hills, 90210, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Legally Blonde and The L WordThe State...
, Michigan University and University of Texas - Chris PackhamChris PackhamChristopher George "Chris" Packham is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author. He is the brother of fashion designer, Jenny Packham...
, Naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author. - Sara ParkinSara ParkinSara Parkin is a former Green Party of England and Wales activist and politician. She rose to prominence during and after the 1989 European election, in which the Green Party received 15% of the vote...
OBE, Founder Director and Trustee of Forum for the FutureForum for the FutureForum for the Future is a British non-profit organisation with a mission to promote sustainable development. Its vision is of "businesses and communities thriving in a future that’s environmentally sustainable and socially just". It runs partnerships with more than 90 organisations across business...
, Chair of the Richard Sandbrook Trust, Board member of the European Training FoundationEuropean Training FoundationThe European Training Foundation is an agency of the European Union. Established in 1990, operational since 1994, the European Training Foundation is located in Turin, Italy.... - Jonathon PorrittJonathon PorrittJonathon Espie Porritt, CBE, is an English environmentalist and writer. Porritt appears frequently in the media, writing in magazines, newspapers and books, and appearing on radio and television regularly.-Early life and family background:...
CBE, Founder Director of Forum for the FutureForum for the FutureForum for the Future is a British non-profit organisation with a mission to promote sustainable development. Its vision is of "businesses and communities thriving in a future that’s environmentally sustainable and socially just". It runs partnerships with more than 90 organisations across business...
and former Chair of the UK Sustainable Development CommissionSustainable Development CommissionThe Sustainable Development Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for advising the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, and Northern Ireland Executive on sustainable development.... - Lionel ShriverLionel Shriver-Early life and education:Lionel Shriver was born Margaret Ann Shriver on May 18, 1957 in Gastonia, North Carolina, to a deeply religious family . At age 15, she changed her name from Margaret Ann to Lionel because she did not like the name she had been given, and as a tomboy felt that a...
Journalist and author - Sir Crispin TickellCrispin TickellSir Crispin Tickell, GCMG, KCVO, MA , DSc , FRSGS , FRIBA , FZS, FRI , FCIWEM is a British diplomat, environmentalist, and academic.-Background:...
GCMG KCVO, Chancellor of Kent UniversityUniversity of KentThe University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute, and former UK Permanent Representative on the United Nations Security CouncilUnited Nations Security CouncilThe United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
External links
- Official website
- Letter to New Scientist from David Willey (Subscription only)
- Guardian article: Citizens arrest
- Independent article: Overpopulation is main threat to planet
- Telegraph article: UK unable to sustain population, says study
- New Statesman article: Planet Overload
- Times article: David Attenborough to be patron of Optimum Population Trust
- Times article: Having large families is an 'eco-crime'