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Welcome to the website for the 2010 Global Population Speak Out (GPSO). GPSO is a simple idea in response to one of humanity’s great challenges. If you have come here to join, just click on the “I Pledge” link below. You can make your pledge anytime up to February 23, 2010.

The size and growth of the human population are fundamental drivers of the ecological crisis we face –  no less crucial, for instance, than over-consumption in developed nations. In fact, almost all habitat & biodiversity loss, atmospheric emissions and toxic pollutants can be traced back to the interplay of both these factors. If we hope to slow down and mitigate this worldwide tragedy, many experts agree, we’ll need to continue working strenuously on adopting eco-friendly, sustainable economic behavior, but also conduct a massive shift of attention and resources toward humane, progressive measures designed to stabilize and ultimately reduce world population to a sustainable level.

Yet there exists today a strongly guarded taboo against serious public discussion of overpopulation. Outside the scientific community, calls to address overpopulation often meet vigorous, ill-informed criticism  — fueled and stoked by ongoing, dogmatic hostility from thinkers and intelligentsia, both left and right. Most of these sorts of objections are obstinately ideological, while others stem from the networks of financial interests dependent on population growth for profit. Both are effective, entrenched and aggressive. There are also well-known historical instances of shockingly coercive, involuntary birth control measures being implemented by misguided state policy.[1] Understandably, few in a position to speak out on the population topic care to do so under such conditions.

Change does not spring from silence, however. We must work together to thoughtfully, respectfully and effectively speak out on the population issue — which is absolutely fundamental to sustainability — and place it back at the center of public, academic and political discussions.

That’s where GPSO comes in.

The GPSO idea

GPSO was born of a simple idea: What if a large number of qualified voices worldwide, many of whom might not have emphasized the topic previously, were to speak out on overpopulation all at once? The strength of numbers might help weaken the taboo and bring population issues to a more prominent position in the global discussion.

How it works

GPSO begins with an invitation (the GPSO letter) we send to a large number of scientists and scholars, environmental, science, and social policy writers, editors, and activists, staff members of environmental NGOs, politicians, and a variety of prominent public figures. As a group of concerned scientists and environmental writers and activists, we invite them merely to pledge to speak out in some way, during the month of February on the problem of the size and growth of the human population.

We also welcome pledges from ordinary, concerned citizens. See this page for details.

Importantly, participants can be sure they will have plenty of good company in their efforts. During the 2009 GPSO, over 200 prominent people worldwide spoke out in some way. For GPSO 2010, we have exceeded 260 pledges and expect many more — respected voices from all across the planet will be speaking out publicly on the population issue during a single month.

Some of the 2010 participants will be speaking publicly on the topic for the first time, others will already be well known experts and activists. Of course, this year — and every year — our most important objective is to bring new voices to the issue to help break down the barriers so that others can follow. After every February, the global discussion of overpopulation comes a little more easily and we move one step closer to a sustainable future.

This site

Here on the website, you’ll find information on the project, a copy of the GPSO letter to potential participants, a list of the letter’s signers, a record of participants (pledgers) and their efforts to speak out, a blog for updates, a map representing where our support is coming from, and resources helpful to participants in formulating their messages or to others seeking basic information on the global ecological crisis and its link to the size and growth of the human population.

Thanks for stopping by, and please check back for updates in the near future.

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1. One of the historical roots of the taboo involves understandable concern about some past human rights abuses carried out in the name of “population control.” (There were incidents in the mid-1970s, for one example, of forced sterilizations in some states in India.)

Many of the roots, however, reflect disingenuous, sometimes politically motivated distortions leading to irresponsible denials of the population-environment link. In all cases the result has been a deliberate suppression of discussion of this crucial environmental issue. We urge instead open, intellectually honest discussion, repudiating abuses and asserting our respect for human rights. We note that nowhere are human rights more a concern than in the effort to avert the cataclysm for humanity, and the planet, portended by signs of global ecological collapse.

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GPSO is organized by the Population Institute, with endorsement and help from the signers of the GPSO letter. The views expressed by GPSO participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Population Institute.

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