A Climate Realist’s Take on Overshoot
PIC patron Dr. Bill Rees discusses ecological overshoot and points out some hard facts in his latest interview on EarthX TV, among them: climate change is but a symptom of the larger problem of overshoot.
PIC patron Dr. William Rees is a population ecologist, ecological economist, professor emeritus and former director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning. He is perhaps best known as the originator and co-developer, with his doctoral students, of ‘ecological footprint analysis,’ a quantitative tool that shows we would need almost five Earth-like planets to sustainably support the present world population at North American material standards. You can visit https://populationinstitutecanada.ca/about-us/our-patrons/ to learn more about Dr. Rees and other patrons who support Population Institute Canada.
Our patron Dr. Bill Rees offered a clear, cogent explanation of the reality of the overshoot crisis in an interview on the #OvercomingOvershoot series recently. His interview is yet to be uploaded to the EarthX TV website for which it was made, but we have permission to share it with Population Institute Canada members. Click here to watch; we think you’ll agree that Dr. Rees’ message is an important, educational one that deserves widespread viewing and that should inform the actions of our political and economic leaders.
 

We also want to acknowledge and celebrate the birthday of PIC patron Sir David Attenborough, who turned 95 last week. This 95-second BBC retrospective reminds us of the lengths to which he’s gone to bring the wonders of the natural world into our homes over these many years. We thank Sir David for not only sharing his adventures with us but also for persistently reminding us that human population growth and rising consumption are destroying the beautiful world on which our existence depends and leading us into overshoot. PIC will continue to do its part to spread that message and – we hope – leave to future generations a flourishing world, not a depleted one