Global Population Speak Out Report 2010
The second annual Global Population Speak Out (GPSO) drew to a successful close on February 28th, 2010. Organized by the Population Institute, GPSO is a month-long program designed to challenge and break-down the taboo against public discussion of population as a sustainability issue. By doing so, GPSO positively impacts the ongoing evolution of sustainability discourse -- reminding the world that consideration of the size and growth of human population should be core components of our deliberations and actions pertaining to “what is sustainable?”
The 2010 program grew significantly from the first year. Project endorsers increased from 32 people to 50 (including 29 Ph.D.’s). GPSO pledgers increased from 216 to 384. Reported actions ballooned from 188 to 599. There were participants from six continents and 39 nations (listed below).
GPSO was also endorsed by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).As part of their GPSO effort, CBD distributed hundreds of thousands of Endangered Species Condoms to draw public attention to the adverse impact that population growth is having on biodiversity.The packaging for the condoms featured colorful drawings of various endangered species. CBD's condom distribution attracted international media coverage.
Kelvin Thomson, the Australian MP who has been leading the effort to stabilize Australia’s population was another high-profile GPSO participant. To fulfill his pledge, he gave a speech at a public meeting of Sustainable Population Australia in Canberra on February 10th. In it, he praised the Population Institute as “a world class leader in promoting worldwide voluntary family planning and reproductive health services.” He also noted that with GPSO, the Population Institute had, “assembled a formidable array of ecologists, biologists, academics and activists from all around the world to speak out on the need to address and remedy the size and growth of human population both internationally and in the home countries of all the participants.”
Other GPSO pledgers had their efforts appear in the New York Times, Huffington Post, International Herald Tribune, Burlington Free Press, and Treehugger.com, among others. Dozens of radio interviews, specially created educational videos and countless individual Global Population Speak Out actionsall added up to make 2010 a big success – and set the bar for next year’s effort.
You can pledge to participate in the 2011 GPSO by clicking the following link:
Or, join us by visiting the GPSO blog-site and clicking on the “I Pledge” banner. We hope you can join us.
Countries Represented:
Asia - 5
India
Singapore
Thailand
Israel
Sri Lanka
Africa - 5
South Africa
Ethiopia
Mauritius
Madagascar
Kenya
North America -3
Mexico
USA
Canada
South America-6
Chile
Ecuador
Argentina
Columbia
Brazil
Nicaragua
Europe -18
Austria
Denmark
Romania
Ireland
Norway
Sweden
Spain
Portugal
Netherlands
Italy
UK
France
Belgium
Switzerland
Germany
Finland
Czech Republic
Turkey
Australia/Oceania-2
New Zealand
Australia
Partial list of people associated with GPSO:
Conservationists, Ecologists
Corey Bradshaw, Ph.D., Research Director of Marine Impacts, Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability, University of Adelaide, Australia
John Burton, Author; CEO, World Land Trust
Ben Delbaere, Deputy Director, European Center for Nature Conservation
Martin Dieterich, Ph. D., President, Society for Conservation Biology, European Section; Associate Professor, University of Hohenheim, Agricultural Sciences
Helena Frietas, Ph.D., President of the Portuguese Ecological Society (SPECO); Vice-President of the Board of the European Ecological Federation
Amy Gulick, Founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographersand member of the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Arend de Haas, Director of Conservation, African Conservation Foundation, Kenya
David H. Inouye, Ph.D., Director of the Graduate Program in Sustainability and Conservation Biology, University of Maryland
Activists and Educators:
Fatima Matos Almeida, President, ASPEA – Portuguese Association for Environmental Education (aspea.org), Lisbon, Portugal
Steven Beissinger, Ph.D., A. Starker Leopold Chair in Wildlife Biology and Professor of Conservation Biology, Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Division of Ecosystem Sciences, University of California Berkeley
Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty
Paul Ehrlich, Ph.D., Bing Professor of Population Studies, President, Center for Conservation Biology, Author, Department of Biology, Stanford University
Frank Fisher, Professor Faculty of Design & Convener, Graduate Programs, National Centre for Sustainability Australia, Inaugural Australian Environmental Educator of the Year (2007-8)
Dennis Meadows, Ph.D.,Professor Emeritus of Systems Policy and Social Science Research, Author, University of New Hampshire
Reproductive Health Advocates:
John Guillebaud, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning & Reproductive Health, University College London, and Churchill Hospital Oxford, UK
Linn Duvall Harwell, Founder of The Clara Bell Duvall Reproductive Freedom Project
Malcolm Potts, Ph.D., MBChir, FRCOG Bixby Professor School of Public Health University of California Berkeley
Bradman Weerakoon, Former Secretary General IPPF
Other notables:
Gary Merritt, Founder USAID Alumni Association
Alexandra Paul,former BayWatch superstar; writer and producer of JAMPACKED: The Challenge of Human Overpopulation
Jane Roberts, Cofounder, 34 Million Friends of the United Nations Population Fund (34millionfriends.org); Author, 34 MILLION FRIENDS of the Women of the World
Tui De Roy, internationally known photographer;Fellow, International League of Wildlife Photographers