Green Group Puts World Population on Agenda, Breaking Taboo

A nonprofit organization that works to protect endangered species is mounting an advocacy campaign on population control, an issue on which the environmental movement has remained largely silent, writes The New York Times.

With the planet’s population now at 7 billion, the Center for Biological Diversity says it is seeking a debate on how overpopulation impacts other species and speeds climate change. “All the species that we save from extinction will eventually be gobbled up if the human population keeps growing,” said Kieran Suckling, the center’s executive director.

The Tucson, Ariz.-based group’s campaign includes video advertisements, lobbying Washington for expanded family-planning services, and handing out condoms packaged with photos of endangered animals on college campuses.

Major environmental organizations contacted by The Times either declined to comment, said they were focusing resources on other issues, or largely limit population advocacy to overseas, citing the fraught domestic politics of birth control and family planning.

“The global warming community is staying away from anything having to do with population, and that’s frustrating,” said John Bongaarts of the Population Council, a New York research group.