Abstract
Voices are increasingly raised to address the linkage between global population size, family planning, and environmental sustainability. Capitalizing on this linkage could not only help improve environmental outcomes, but also advance reproductive rights by increasing their acceptability, scope and funding. However, connecting these issues is often avoided or outright rejected: Population reductionism is a mechanism whereby the complex ethical questions raised by the linkage between reproductive rights and environmental sustainability are downplayed and/or avoided. We reflected on ways to frame this issue to make it more attractive and acceptable to policy makers, researchers, and the public at large. We delved in social change movement studies to explore the role that framing could play to influence the success of a social issue, and reviewed existing advice on how to communicate related messages. We elaborated a strategic communication roadmap to promote the operationalization of the family planning and environmental sustainability linkage, centered on individual empowerment, and proposed a global rallying cry that reflects the public’s heightened concern for climate change and environmental degradation: “empowered, smaller families are better for the planet”.
Presenters
Celine DelacroixAdjunct Professor, Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Human Impacts and Responsibility
KEYWORDS
Family Planning, Reproductive Rights, Environmental Sustainability, Climate Communication, Population Growth
