Rio +20 Re-post: “Royal Society call for free access to reproductive health services despite protests from Vatican”
Posted on | June 15, 2012 by Timothy Herrmann |
The world’s 105 science academies, including the Royal Society, have warned international leaders that a failure to act now on population growth and over-consumption will have “potentially catastrophic implications for human wellbeing”
The Royal Society also released a study in the months leading up to the conference calling for population control. Though their report never uses the words “population control” explicitly, it condemns current world population growth and consumption, particularly in developing countries, as unsustainable. The report then identifies access to reproductive health services and family planning as the only real solution. Never once does it propose increased investment in infrastructure, education, or the economy as alternatives.
We covered the report in an in depth blog post here: Report Posits Population Control as Solution to Poverty in World’s Least Developed Countries
I am currently reporting from the Rio +20 conference and so far the population control agenda has been silenced. We are hopefully things will remain that way. Unfortunately, in the late hours of the final negotiations tonight, it is always possible that compromises will be made and that population control will make it into the outcome document.
The first article does get one thing wrong, it isn’t just the Vatican that is up in arms. Other countries are fighting back against the population control camp as well. On the first day of negotiations, the G77 made it clear that they were well aware of the push by organizations like the UNFPA through countries like New Zealand to include population control in the Rio +20 document and that they would not stand for it. We covered it more in depth here.
We will keep you posted.
UPDATE: It dawns on me now that these articles, both running in UK papers, along with the statement, were most likely published because the population control movement is scared. They have seen that they are not well liked in the developing world and are worried that they are going to loose out big here in Rio. We are working to make sure they do. Please spread the word. It is important that people know what is really going on here!
Tags: Rio +20 > Royal Society