THE BIG PICTURE
Ecological overshoot
The mounting crises of climate change, species extinctions, pollution, desertification, and depletion of fresh water and healthy soils show that we are out of balance with the natural world. Since fossil fuels were discovered 200 years ago, our consumption across the world has increased by 100 times while our population has increased eight times.
We are in ecological overshoot, which means we are consuming resources and producing waste 80 percent faster than the Earth can provide or absorb sustainably. There is no technological solution.
The growth of the human enterprise can only occur by consuming the rest of the natural system. We're literally converting nature into more human bodies and the artifacts of our society.
Dr. William Rees, Confronting Overshoot
The growth spurt of human society over the past 200 years has been made possible only by fossil fuels, an energy source that is both limited and more concentrated than any other energy source available to us. As oil runs out, we must question the ideology of infinite growth that has led to vast global inequality and ecological destruction.
To do so, we must confront and move beyond the guiding principles that have brought us to this place: the patriarchal pronatalism that pressures women and girls to have children, the ideology of human supremacy that separates us from the rest of life, and the dogma of endless economic growth. When we move beyond these principles, we see we can only survive in a thriving natural environment. And we see that to protect it, we must shrink our population, and our consumption.
Confronting pronatalism
Pronatalism—the patriarchal and institutional pressures to have children and large families—drives population growth and reproductive and social injustice worldwide. We empower people to make liberated and informed reproductive choices that advance reproductive autonomy, children’s rights, and ecological balance.
Confronting human supremacy
Human supremacy—the belief that nature and all other beings exist to serve humans—is at the root of our ecological crises. We work toward a radical shift in our relationship with all life from one of domination and exploitation, to one of reverence, justice, and care.
Confronting growthism
Growthism—the belief that we need endless economic and population growth to support our society—is not only impossible on a finite planet, but it is the root cause of vast social inequality. We work toward an economy that respects ecological limits and promotes the wellbeing of all.