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Smaller families 'could help the planet'

30 July 2008

People should consider having fewer children in a bid to help the planet, two doctors said today.

Family planning and reproductive health expert Professor John Guillebaud and Dr Pip Hayes, a GP from Exeter, argue that doctors should highlight the link between population, family planning and climate change.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, they say that the biggest contribution UK couples can make to combating climate change would be to only have two children or at least have one less than they first intended.

They highlight a calculation from the Optimum Population Trust that estimates each new UK birth will be responsible for 160 times more greenhouse gas emissions than a new birth in Ethiopia.

With the world population exceeding 6,700 million, Professor Guillebaud and Dr Hayes say that humankind's consumption of fuel, water and food is exceeding supply.

As such they say doctors should consider explaining to UK couples that having fewer children could help the planet.

"We must not put pressure on people, but by providing information on the population and the environment, and appropriate contraception for everyone, doctors should help to bring family size into the arena of environmental ethics, analogous to avoiding patio heaters and high carbon cars," they conclude.