Global Speak Out Spans Six Continents

During the month of February, the Population Institute asked leading scientists, academicians and environmental leaders to "speak out" on the link between population and environmental sustainability as part of the second annual "Global Population Speak Out" (GPSO).  Nearly 400 people responded to the invitation.  The participants, who spanned six continents and 39 nations, were asked to speak out publicly on population in the popular media. GPSO participants made their voices heard in dozens of radio talk shows and interviews, and in print publications ranging from the New York Times to the Huffington Post and the International Herald Tribune.  

The "speak out" also fostered a number of consciousness-raising projects. The Center for Biological Diversity distributed hundreds of thousands of condoms to draw public attention to the adverse impact that population growth is having on biodiversity.  The packaging for the condoms featured colorful drawings of various endangered species.  CBD's condom distributed attracted international media coverage.

Notable participants in this year's GPSO included:

• Corey Bradshaw, Ph.D., Research Director of Marine Impacts, Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability, University of Adelaide, Australia
• John Burton, Author; CEO, World Land Trust 
• Helena Frietas, Ph.D., President of the Portuguese Ecological Society (SPECO); Vice-President of the Board of the European Ecological Federation 
• Arend de Haas, Director of Conservation, African Conservation Foundation, Kenya 
• Fatima Matos Almeida, President, ASPEA – Portuguese Association for Environmental Education (aspea.org), Lisbon, Portugal 
• Paul Ehrlich, Ph.D., Bing Professor of Population Studies, President, Center for Conservation Biology, Author, Department of Biology, Stanford University 
• Dennis Meadows, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Systems Policy and Social Science Research, Author, University of New Hampshire 
• John Guillebaud, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning & Reproductive Health, University College London, and Churchill Hospital Oxford, UK 
• Malcolm Potts, Ph.D., MBChir, FRCOG Bixby Professor School of Public Health University of California Berkeley
• Jane Roberts, Cofounder, 34 Million Friends of the United Nations Population Fund (34millionfriends.org); Author, 34 MILLION FRIENDS of the Women of the World

The first annual Global Population Speak Out, held in February of 2009, was organized by John Feeney, a Colorado journalist and environmental activist.  If you would like participate in next year's Global Population Speak Out in February 2011, please inquire at the Population Institute.