Condoms and Climate Change

As a follow-up to our post about Gen. Michael Hayden’s speech at Kansas State, take a look at this article that explores the connections between trends in population growth and their potential impact on climate change. While we have averted the Malthusian predictions of several decades ago (in large part due to the Green Revolution), skyrocketing food and energy prices are reminding us once again of the resource constraints we face. Moreover, steadily growing world population, much of which is occurring in the developing world, will only stretch our limited resources further in the coming years. This trend, emphasized by Gen. Hayden in the security context, no doubt holds tremendous implications for the future path of climate change, and could quite conceivably intensify the harmful effects that climate change has in store. To confront this population challenge, Robert Engleman, Vice President of Programs at the Worldwatch Institute, suggests that we put more control over procreation in the hands of women. According to Engleman, in countries where women take control of family size, birth rates tend to contract, as women seek professional and personal fulfillment beyond having children. Hence, ensuring the safety of and promoting access to contraception may be a critical tool in corralling global population growth. Of course, navigating the gender dynamics and social stigma surrounding contraception is a challenge, but the potential for this strategy to both empower women and to mitigate our risks to climate change proves it worthy of our attention, resources, and efforts.