Optimum Population Trust: Press release 6 September 2004

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PRESS RELEASE 6 SEPTEMBER 2004

(For publication on or after 6 September 2004)

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS A SUSTAINABLE POPULATION POLICY

The Optimum Population Trust, in a submission to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, has called for a range of new demographic indicators to ensure that the impacts of population growth on sustainable development are made clear. "We do not believe that a sustainable development strategy for the UK can be conceived or achieved without incorporating an environmentally sustainable population policy," says OPT's submission to the EAC. The Optimum Population Trust has recommended that an indicator of national population density should be included in the DEFRA Sustainable Development Unit's key indicators of sustainability, with a 1990 baseline to relate population size and density to environmental targets such as Kyoto obligations and to clarify the effects of population growth on environmentally sustainable development. It has also suggested other new demographic indicators and the setting of sustainable population targets.

Notes for editors:

1. The remit of the EAC enquiry on sustainable development and the main part of OPT's submission are available on request. For a table of UK population figures see: UK population figures .

2. UK population is projected to grow by 5.6 million (from 59.2 million in mid-2002) to 64.8 million by 2031 (Principal mid-2002 based projection, Government Actuary's Department, 18.12.2003).

3. The government's review of its own Sustainable Development Strategy began in December 2002, and the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) launched a separate review (The Sustainable Development Strategy: illusion or reality?) on 5 April 2004. The EAC has decided to extend its evidence sessions into the autumn and expects to publish its findings before the end of 2004. Consultations on the government's review closed on 31 July 2004 and its revised Sustainable Development Strategy is expected to be published in late March 2005.

4. The Optimum Population Trust is an independent environmental research organisation whose concern is with the impact of population growth on the UK and global environment. It campaigns for a policy of stabilisation and gradual reduction in UK population, with an initial target of 52.5 million by 2050.

Enquiries:

Professor John Guillebaud (Co-chair)
Tel: 07779-180 188
Rosamund McDougall (Co-chair)
Tel: (OPT) 07976-370 221