To save the planet, have children!

January 1st is the peak of sexual intercourse and therefore the third week of September is the peak of births. But no matter what time of the year, many women wish to be expecting.

Actually, they are fewer and fewer in reality. This phenomenon is quite common. Within the European Union the fertility rate is 1.6 children per woman in 2017. It's only 1.8 in the United States, 1.6 in China and less than 1.5 in Japan. Globally, the fertility in a country declines as per capita income rises. To use the technical terminology of demographers, the wealthier individuals are, the more they prioritize the child's "quality" over their "quantity". In other words, they prefer to invest in their education, health, leisure activities...

Other "moral" factors now also come into play in developed countries, notably this idea that one should not participate in the global "overpopulation". Incidentally this argument discredits the thesis that the XXIth century technologist society is pushing individuals to have children because they simply want to, as if it was just a simple act of consumption. The fact remains that this fallacy of overpopulation, benevolent as it might be, is wrong.

First, the fertility rate is dropping, which will stabilize the global population to about 11 million individuals by 2100. Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, ageing is more problematic than a so-called "demographic bomb". This fear of overpopulation is very old. In the 1968 The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich planned that the rising of population would lead to a shortage in natural resources and multiplication of famines. In 1972, le Club of Rome published a report on the limits to growth. Few years after, after leading a rigorous work, Julian Simon showed that humanity had solved the resources scarcity issues. Simon even questioned the validity of the "natural resources" notion. In his argumentation, human intelligence would be the ultimate resource. Reality contradicts the predictions of Ehrlich and the Club of Rome and confirms Simon's. Between 1960 and today, the world's population has grown by nearly 4 billion people and malnutrition has been steadily declining.

Some couples might think that having a child contributes to climate change. This idea is as false as the previous one. A movement called "GINKS", for "Green Inclination, No Kids" even made it the mantra of environment protection. Some women claim their choice to be "childfree" for the environment's sake. However, CO2 emissions are caused by three factors: population, GDP per capita and the carbon footprint per unit produced. Reduce GDP per capita is not possible, most of the population on the planet wants to improve their material condition and that of their children. It's the carbon footprint that should be reduced, which involves a trained population, innovating, forward-looking and aware of global issues. The more numerous and richer we'll be, the more we will be able to solve the problems we face. Dear lovers, spend an excellent beginning of year 2020. Make children that you will love and take care of. It's the best you can do for the world's future!

Translated from l'Express, published on July 31st, 2019