The link between demographics and climate, although logically evident (more humans -> more pollution), has been spoken of very little during the whole debate until now. The new report on the state of population and climate change that has been published by the UN, while being full of euphemisms and very careful about its words, it finally challenges the taboo and sheds the light on this issue. We can attribute the difficulty of bringing this argument to the table on the bad reputation population control policies have and it’s obvious conflict with more conservative religious organization, but the time for screwing around is up. This problem, while caused entirely by our actions as a race, can have consequences that are far bigger than humanity and only science has so far been capable of solving problems of inhuman scale. Now, I can see from miles away the great organized religions coming to interfere with resolving this crisis.
Everyone with a half-decent knowledge of psychology and philosophy will know perfectly well that us humans have a natural aversion to all that is dehumanizing. Yes, I can understand why birth control and abortions are considered immoral by some, but now is not the time to bring everyone’s religious or spiritual opinion to the polemic. Every time I hear someone saying that this whole climate issue is the will of some divinity is another blow to the respect that I have for humanity and my hopes that we can fix this problem. They can think their god is to blame, but if such is their reasoning, then I would very much appreciate them not interfering with those that are actually using their brains and trying to solve this issue.
Either way, there will be birth control in the process of resolution either in the form of policies or in the form of a cataclysm, we have the choice. Nature knows no spiritualism as any divinity is the creation of the human mind, and if we fail at sorting ourselves out, it will gladly exercise its overdue right of population control, just like it has been doing for lesser beings since life first appeared in the universe and for us before we became intelligent enough to circumvent it. The Chinese policies have prevented a good 250 million humans of being born from 1979 to 2000, which translates to a obvious amount of savings in CO2 emissions. It has created a whole host of other sociological problem, but minds are much easier to change than overpopulation.
Once we are past this crisis, I hope someone will have the courage go confront the churches and tell them that they have been wrong about everything, that they have been wrong in past, that they are wrong and that they will be wrong in the future. In fact, there is no wrong nor right in what religion preaches, there are only statements devoid of any reasoned predictions and anything that comes out of organized religion should be barred from having any influence on human governance.
I stumbled upon this organization while researching the subject. I sincerely hope it an other similar initiative will get more visibility in the future.