Fair Start Movement

Category: Climate Protection

  • WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY: NEW CAMPAIGN URGES TEACHERS TO TELL TEENS THE TRUTH ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

    WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY: NEW CAMPAIGN URGES TEACHERS TO TELL TEENS THE TRUTH ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

    On the heels of a study showing that the most effective solutions to climate change are not being discussed, and UN reports of disastrous mass extinctions, a growing coalition of environmental and child protection organizations is launching a daring new campaign.

    The Tell the Truth Campaign is urging the education community around the world to speak out, and to tell teen students as appropriate and depending on their age, that smaller families are the most effective way to mitigate the threats of climate change and many other environmental crises.

    Why are groups urging teachers to speak out?

    Here are the facts:

    Population and CO2

    The campaign will be sending a new letter each week to influential educator organizations around the world urging them to take action, providing them with all of the relevant information, and offering to publicize the most impressive efforts.

    “Who would oppose telling kids the truth about what protects their future,” said Erika Matthews, Executive Director of Having Kids. “It’s well past due to give teens the information they need to promote effective policy changes,” said Small Families Project Executive Director Peter Fiekowsky. “This may be the most important thing for the educational community to convey to younger generations.”

     

  • Earth’s Mass Extinction: How You Can Stop It

    Earth’s Mass Extinction: How You Can Stop It

    Nature is disappearing from our planet. According to new United Nations estimates over a million species are threatened:

    Earth likely is moving into the sixth mass extinction event in its history, the first one that humans are causing. Elephants could be gone from the wild in a generation. Amphibian populations already are collapsing. Climate change is warming and acidifying the oceans, threatening to annihilate coral reefs.

    What can you do to respond and stop mass extinction?

    Qualitative, child-first family planning like the Fair Start model is THE intersectional and fundamental change we have all been anticipating.

  • UN: Adopt Sustainable Families Policy for Earth Day

    UN: Adopt Sustainable Families Policy for Earth Day

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    Having Kids is calling on United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to issue a new U.N. family planning statement, recommending a focus on delaying having kids and sustainable families, and calling for a new standard of equity and sustainability for all family planning policies. The group will hold an event in front of the U.N. on Monday.

    A better family planning model and policies – with a focus on more equitable families – are likely the most effective solution to most of the world’s crises today. Remodeling family planning is the most comprehensive and effective way to promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and in some cases proves twenty times more effective than other reforms.

    Several new developments underscore the need for truly fundamental change. Current and downstream attempts to deal with climate change are failing, as demonstrated by the United Nations’ own reports. The United States recently determined that climate change will shrink the U.S. economy and kill thousands.

    Simply stated, the current family planning model used by the United Nations is the fundamental source of the problem, ensuring unsustainable population growth in a way that degrades equality, democracy, and our environment. This archaic model was developed before we learned what we know today about climate change, the disproportionate impact of early childhood development on human well-being, the way birth conditions and early childhood can exacerbate inequality, etc. Many better models have been proposed, including one by leading political theorist Sarah Conly, and Having Kids’ own model, the Fair Start approach (detailed here). To begin the process Having Kids has asked public figures to take action and speak out, but the United Nations should lead.

    “This is an opportunity for the United Nations to do what it was founded to do, and protect the world from dire threats through the promotion of human rights,” said Erika Mathews, the Executive Director of Having Kids.

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  • Two of the Most Effective Actions You Can Take to Fight Climate Change

    Two of the Most Effective Actions You Can Take to Fight Climate Change

    Anthropogenic climate change, as the name suggests, derives from humans – or an imbalance between the quantity of people on the planet, as well as our qualities (e.g. proclivity to consume), and our ecosystems.

    Things are projected to get much worse. But we can change that.

    You and/or you kids don’t have to live in a world with billions more people, massive inequality, a polluted environment, and democracies where citizens are powerless. Smaller families sharing resources to invest more in each child, right from the start, is the most effective way to fight climate change and all of the other crises we face.

    So what are the next steps?

    • URGE ORGS TO SPEAK OUT: If you are a member of a donor to an environmental, animal protection, or child welfare organization and they are not promoting policies that encourage better family planning policies and smaller families, urge them to do so, or move your support over to family planning organizations who are helping reduce fertility rates. It’s time to be as effective as we can.

    If you care about climate change and other environmental crises please take effective action now.

  • Are COP24 World Leaders Ignoring the Greatest Factor in Climate Change?

    Are COP24 World Leaders Ignoring the Greatest Factor in Climate Change?

    Right now, world leaders are meeting in Katowice, Poland for the COP24 Conference to finalize the negotiations outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement. Unfortunately, the agenda indicates no discussion about the greatest factor in mitigating human impact on climate: sustainable family planning. Much of the agenda revolves around reigning in industrial emissions. Certainly, that’s important, but aren’t we missing the elephant in the room? Those emissions are driven by the demand that people create.

    We’re a already facing life with more deadly acts of nature, like the California wildfires that took 101 lives and the east coast hurricanes that took 87 lives this year. We’re also seeing less habitable land, water scarcity, and the extinction of wildlife at an alarming rate.

    Our kids are depending on us to save their future in the little time left before we reach a point of no return. Most of the world leaders in attendance at the COP24 conference are parents themselves. As illustrated by the list below, a large portion of them are doing their part to set an example by having a small family with no more than two kids.

    List of Speakers for Heads of State and Heads of Government High-Level Segment:

    Leaders with small families:
    His Excellency Mr. Baron Divavesi Waqa, President of Nauru – 1 kid (adopted)
    His Excellency Mr. Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi, President of Botswana – 1 kid
    His Excellency Mr. Raimonds Vējonis, President of Latvia – 2 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Rumen Georgiev Radev, President of Bulgaria – 2 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Borut Pahor, President of Slovenia – 1 kid
    His Excellency Mr. Milo Djukanovic, President of Montenegro – 1 kid
    His Excellency Mr. Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria – 2 kids
    Her Excellency Ms. Bidhya Devi Bhandari, President of Nepal – 2 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Pedro Sánchez Perez-Castejón, President of the Government of Spain – 2 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands – no kids
    Her Excellency Ms. Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of Serbia – no kids
    His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See – celibate
    His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid of the Kingdom of Morocco – 1 kid
    His Excellency Mr. Gjorge Ivanov, President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – 1 kid

    Leaders with large families
    His Excellency Mr. Alain Berset, President of Switzerland – 3 kids
    His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg – 5 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Sauli Väinämö Niinistö, President of Finland – 3 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria – 10 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Ilir Meta, President of Albania – 3 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Frank V. Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji – 5 kids
    His Excellency Mr. Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia – 4 kids
    Mr. Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President of the European Commission – 3 kids

    Leaders with an unknown family size
    His Excellency Mr. Mirco Tomassoni (unknown)
    His Excellency Mr. Luca Santolini, Captains Regent of San Marino – (unknown)
    His Excellency Mr. Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, Prime Minister of Eswatini – (unknown)
    Her Excellency Ms. Saara Kuugongelwa Amadhila, Prime Minister of Namibia – (unknown)

    Leaders from wealthy countries that have grown rich through colonization have the greatest obligation to reduce their family size and lead by example because of the disparate impact wealthy countries/populations have on the environment, because of the history of exploitation of other countries, and because human rights-based family planning change must account for culture. We all must acknowledge that, and account for the difference. But some change by all is necessary. 

    These leaders have the power to bring a discussion to the forefront on the need for nations to promote smaller families and sustainable family planning. The Fair Start model offers a human rights-based solution that accounts for the needs of future children and the world in which they are born.

    We have asked the Secretary General of the U.N. to issue a new statement on family planning, urging the world to choose smaller families. We are also calling on world leaders to incorporate sustainable family planning into their nations’ respective climate action plans in order to achieve the targets set in the Paris Climate Accord.

    TAKE ACTION
    Tweet UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres with the hashtag #COP24 and ask when sustainable families will be part of #sustainabledevelopmentgoals. And add your name to our letter here.

  • Time for Guaranteed and Sustainable Child Income

    Time for Guaranteed and Sustainable Child Income

    Cory Booker is right. It’s time to target inequality, and baby bonds, as he proposes, are a great way to do it. But what if we could create more equity for kids and protect our environment – the environment our children will need in the future, at the same time? We can. 

    Today the national child-protection organization Having Kids called upon the District of Columbia to adopt a sustainable guaranteed income for children in the District, one pegged to better family planning. The idea is simple: The District can reach many of its goals at once by promoting smaller families so that communities and families can invest more in each child. The policy is centered around every child’s right to a fair start in life, and is designed to address the greatest threats facing the District and nation, including inequality and climate change.

    Can Washington D.C. make a difference by itself? It can for its residents. But it can also lead by example and set a trend – a line of dominoes – for the rest of the nation.

    Read the full letter here. 

    The policy urges the District to adopt a stable community model, where the financial resources formerly required to support growth could be directed to other beneficial investments. Rather than focusing on blunt and unsustainable economic growth, the Having Kids GMI proposal shrinks the wealth gap by specifically contemplating (1) household resources per capita, (2) level of access to public services such as health and education and (3) above all, the relationship between a child’s fair start in life and prospects for success.

    Several studies show that smaller families are the best way to confront climate change, as well as other and related environmental crises. Research also confirms the disproportionate impact of early childhood development on human wellbeing and inequality later in life.

    The current family planning model in use makes our future less secure, healthy and equitable than it should be. Having Kids Executive Director Anne Green said this: “We offer the child-first Fair Start family planning model as a sustainable and equitable alternative. The Fair Start model is cooperative rather than isolationist, is based upon binding sources of international law, and provides a clear human rights-based solution to our biggest problems and a path forward.”

    Tweet @MayorBowser and ask her to adopt sustainable income for kids that is tied to family planning.

     

  • Rubio Putting Profits Before Planet

    Rubio Putting Profits Before Planet

    Yesterday, Marco Rubio explained that when it comes to climate change, his priority is the economy over the wellbeing of the planet. As a Republican with Presidential ambitions, he walks a fine line between climate skeptic and Senator of a state already seeing the firsthand effects of climate change, including sea level rise and stronger hurricanes. It has not even been one week since Hurricane Michael wiped out some towns in Florida. Climate change is not his priority? Michael will undoubtedly be the twelfth billion dollar storm this year, with an expected cost of $30 billion.

    As a father, he is harming his and other children’s future to benefit a small percentage of uber-wealthy people. Rubio has explicitly pushed for larger families and unsustainable families and the cheap labor and hungry consumers they create: That is THE WORST way to exacerbate climate change and other crises in the long term, the timeframe that really matters.

    He and his colleagues push for the deregulation of corporate activities while playing semantics with stances on whether climate change is man-made. But it’s those regulations that protect our planet for all of us, for all of us, not to mention the future that Rubio’s own children with inherit. There will be no way to have a successful economy with the outrageous costs that climate destruction is causing if we continue on this path. We must put greed and consumerism aside to enable a habitable, stable future for the next generation. 

    Last week’s alarming climate change report made it clear that drastic changes in human behavior will need to occur if we are to mitigate the climate ecocide that is already underway. Are we willing to do that? If current trends continue, we are on course for endless drought, flooding, wildfires, heat waves, weather-related disasters, and food and water scarcity. Coastal towns where vast portions of the population reside, including Rubio’s own South Florida which is already flooding, will be swallowed by the seas.  

    Is it fair to subject our kids to that chaotic, unsafe future? By our own nature, we are reluctant to accept uncomfortable facts and problems that are not immediate. But it’s time to face them because our kids have a right to a fair start.

    rubio climate change

    It’s not an either-or proposition. We can have a thriving economy and a sustainable planet. Yes, we need leaders to enforce environmental measures, participate in the Paris Climate Agreement, and call for corporate responsibility. But we all have a responsibility at the individual level as well to reduce our impact.

    The best way we can do that is by choosing to have smaller families – at usually that means one or two kids. Having one less child saves more harmful emissions than changes in transportation, energy, or diet.

    human impact on climate

    Why not set up our kids to thrive in safe, healthy, and sustainable communities where everyone has a fair start in life? Isn’t that the future we want?

    Senator Rubio is morally obligated to take the most effective response to climate change, which has been recognized as a national security threat. That response is better family planning.

    We are calling on him to reverse his stance and to join us in asking the U.N. to recommend smaller families across the globe.

    TAKE ACTION:

    1. Tweet Marco Rubio with a ready-made tweet.
    2. Add your name to our message to the U.N.

     

     

  • Earth Overshoot Day – Take Action Now

    Earth Overshoot Day – Take Action Now

    August 1, 2018 is Earth Overshoot Day.

    Worried that the federal government is actually making things worse, and hurting your kids’ future? You would be right. But you can take action by urging your local government, your town, city or county, to do the most effective thing possible to mitigate climate change and protect the environment.

    Between now and the end of the year, consider using the template below to urge your local government to take a position on the need for better family planning. Send them the draft, and then lobby them hard to do their jobs and protect you, your family, and your future.

    ————–

    Resolution acknowledging that Earth Overshoot Day 2018 is August 1, 2018 and Affirming [add your local government reference here] Commitment to Move Back the Date of Earth Overshoot Day And Provide Affordable and Accessible Family Planning Services

    WHEREAS, Earth Overshoot Day is the date each year when it is determined that we (all of humanity) have used more of the Earth’s natural resources than our planet can renew in that entire year; and

    WHEREAS, In 1970, Earth Overshoot Day was December 29; and

    WHEREAS, This year, Earth Overshoot Day is August 1, 2018; and

    WHEREAS, We now use the resources equivalent to that of 1.7 Earths; and

    WHEREAS, One way to live within the means of our planet is to ensure affordable and accessible family planning services, including birth control and women’s health services; and

    WHEREAS, Better family planning is a proven effective way to improve child welfare, reduce economic inequality, and protect and restore our environment; and

    WHEREAS, Smaller, child-centered families would result in 50% more biocapacity per person in 2100, and more biocapacity makes it easier to have thriving lives for all within the means of the planet; and

    WHEREAS, Investing in smaller, child-centered families through the empowerment of women is also consistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG Number 5 General Equality calls for ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, including giving women equal rights to economic resources and promoting gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels; and

    WHEREAS, Gender equality can also help ensure that we live within the means of our planet because when women are respected as equal partners in the household, at work, and in the community, better social outcomes for their families, including health and educational achievements invariably ensue; and

    WHEREAS, In 2011, nearly half (45% or 2.8 million) of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the United States each year were unintended; and[1]

    WHEREAS, Studies show that family planning programs and preventing teen pregnancy lead to more stable families and allow girls to stay in school longer; and

    WHEREAS, Studies also show that the more education young girls and women receive, the longer they wait to have children; and[2]

    WHEREAS, Some communities have instituted affordable and accessible family planning programs, which have resulted in an average 48% decrease in teen pregnancy; and

    WHEREAS, Family planning programs enable more women to use the birth control method of their choice and empower more individuals to plan if and when to become pregnant; and

    WHEREAS, The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released proposed changes to prohibit the use of federal Title X Family Planning Program funding for agencies that provide abortions or abortion-related services; and

    RESOLVED [ add your local government reference here] is committed to providing affordable and accessible family planning services, which is under attack by the Trump Administration, to protect our planet and its resources for future generations.

    [1] https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-united-states

    [2] https://www.wired.com/story/to-stop-climate-change-educate-girls-and-give-them-birth-control/

  • Push Back On Lobbyists Driving Climate Change and Hurting Our Kids

    Push Back On Lobbyists Driving Climate Change and Hurting Our Kids

    A federal judge recently dismissed a very modest lawsuit to recoup the government’s costs – the ones you pay as a taxpayer – for having to deal with the impacts of climate change. Jay Timmons, the manufacturing trade association lead is one of the lobbyists who opposed the lawsuit as “baseless.”

    Don’t you have an overriding and God-given right to a safe, healthy and natural environment? Isn’t that the very least a government has to assure in order to remain legitimate? How bad does it have to get before we realize the government has failed to protect us and our kids?

    The problem with climate change is that it seems amorphous and overwhelming, so much so that we have a cognitive bias against taking corrective action. The way around that is to understand that climate change is not just randomly happening. It is being exacerbated by very specific people who are enriching themselves, profiting from harming the environment in which we and our children live. Jay Timmons is one of those persons.

    This is not complex. He and his kind are harming the environment in which we live, and threatening our children. Justice means holding him, and others like him, accountable for the harm they have done and the suffering they will cause.

    Take action: Tweet him @JayTimmonsNAM and let him know how you feel. It’s up to us to protect the future. This is the challenge of our age – and we will rise to it.