Morgan BellEmpowering women is the best climate control
December 19th 2008 10:12
Found on BoingBoing, but originally posted by Alex Steffen on Worldchanging: the idea of how important peak population is.
Read about peak population - basically, the maximum population we'll see on Earth, expected to occur in the latter half of the century.
Steffen's conclusion is that the most important thing we can do for the sustainable future is to empower women. It sounds like a noble aim, but, actually, it makes a lot of sense the way he writes it:
"Since we know the single best way of bringing down high birth rates is to empower women by giving them access to reproductive health choices (including contraception and abortion), education, economic opportunities, and legal protection of their rights, empowering women ought to be one of our highest priorities. "
Peak population is going to be a big challenge - and surviving the challenge is going to be tough, especially since we want to leave a world that'll be as rich and exciting for our descendants as it was for us. That means keeping our natural environment available for leisure, but also maintaining the cultural variety that we get to experience.
For example, it'd be a shame to lose the wonders of a good Korean BBQ. That would be a world that I would loathe to live in.
He's talking about a society that has perfected zero-waste living, which is hard to imagine now. No more landfills? You're joking.
No, he's not:
"I am optimistic that we can do this. We have our first Gen X U.S. president in Barack Obama. We have a rising network of brilliant and dedicated worldchanging leaders. We live, despite the financial crisis, at a moment of great wealth. We have the motive, means and opportunity."
Let's hope you've pegged this right on the bulls-eye...
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