Population and the Environment

April 1, 1992 Resolutions

Number: 1992-14

 

WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation recognizes that most environmental issues are increasingly global in scope, and that human demand for and use of natural resources relates to environmental deterioration worldwide; and

WHEREAS, increasingly excessive demands for resources, and their mismanagement and abuse by industrialized countries, including the United States, are primary causes of resource degradation and depletion; and

WHEREAS, population pressures are a combination of both high fertility rates and migration, and where concentrations of people are higher, there is a greater stress on the environment; and

WHEREAS, within a few years 50 percent of all people will be in urban areas (where concentration of pollution often leads to health hazards), and in coastal regions (where new development destroys wetlands); and

WHEREAS, current world population of 5.4 billion is growing at a rate at which human population will double to over 10 billion by the year 2025 (90 percent of this growth will be in developing regions of Africa, Latin America and Asia), a current trend in human population growth which is unprecedented in history; and

WHEREAS, based on the idea that a practical carrying capacity ensures a reasonable life for all species, including humans, many scientists believe the carrying capacity of the Earth has been exceeded, and that population pressures are and will continue to contribute to environmental deterioration and loss of natural and recreational areas; and

WHEREAS, studies have shown that improving the status of women–which involves increasing their access to health care, education, employment, financial and leadership opportunities, and self-determination–directly influences their decisions about family size and well-being; and

WHEREAS, the family planning programs which have been demonstrated to be the most successful are those which:

  1. Are voluntary and non-coercive;
  2. Are sensitive to local culture and religions, are designed and implemented with local personnel, and are carried out by non-governmental organizations having a long-term commitment to community outreach;
  3. Include family planning as part of comprehensive health care for women and children;
  4. Encourage family management education for women and men;
  5. Support programs and efforts to improve the status of women; and

WHEREAS, the 1989 United Nations International Forum on Population in the 21st Century cited the need to increase significantly the worldwide budget for population assistance in order to meet the demand for family planning services and education (including the need to support research for new, safe and effective contraceptives) and stabilize population into the next century; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which is the largest multilateral provider of family planning, maternal and child health care, working in more countries than does the U.S., is an appropriate vehicle for U.S. population assistance;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1992, in Portland, Oregon, recognizes that population growth and movement is one of many critical factors affecting the global environment and that it is related to, and compounded by, other important environmental concerns, which the Federation already addresses, such as rates of consumption and waste of natural resources, unsustainable economic development plans promoted by international banks and aid agencies, and extremes of poverty and debt in many developing countries; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation affirms its decision to proceed with international programs designed to address population as an environmental issue, seeking better understanding of the causes of population growth and equitable solutions to stabilizing population; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon the U.S. Congress and government agencies to increase and improve U.S. foreign assistance programs for health services that include voluntary family planning and education, and will work to ensure that such program funds are used effectively, appropriately and with due consideration of peoples’ rights.