John Guillebaud, professor of family planning and reproductive health at University College, London has said that family planning is vital in the battle to protect our environment. National statistics show that 669,531 babies were born in Britain last year, with the UK having the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe. The Optimum Population Trust (OPT), of which Guillebaud is co-chair, is calling for the government to introduce a “stop at two children” guideline.

Guillebaud’s report says:

“Each new UK birth, through the inevitable resource consumption and pollution that UK affluence generates, is responsible for about 160 times as much climate-related environmental damage as a new birth in Ethiopia, or 35 times as much as a new birth in Bangladesh.”

“A voluntary stop-at-two guideline should be adopted for couples in the UK who want to adopt greener lifestyles. It would aim to set an example.”

“UK population has grown by 20% since 1950 – in less than a lifetime. There are more than 60 million people now living in the UK, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and our numbers are rising faster than ever before.”

“UK population is growing by the equivalent of a city larger than Cardiff every year.”

Prof Guillebaud lays much of the blame for the UK’s high teenage pregnancy rate at the NHS’s door, citing the closure of many family planning clinics by primary care trusts. He went on to point out that if population growth goes unchecked, by 2050 the population will require the biocapacity of two earths. via UK Parents Lounge

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