Yes, in the sense that the real problem we face is Overshoot - too many people using up too little planet. Peak Oil, mass extinctions, global warming, depleted aquifers, deforestation, soil loss — these are all SYMPTOMS of overshoot, which began somewhere around 1987. (See Mathis Wackernagel on our current global footprint.)
Any meaningful solution to any problem - including peak oil - has to take account not only of the other symptoms, but of the real disease, which is overshoot. VPO supports planned global population reduction (recognizing that a North American consumer is a much greater problem for the planet than any 500 Third Worlders) through education and empowerment of women, addressing global income inequality, and prevention of unwanted pregnancies by whatever means any individual member may find morally suitable.
vlsavage
May 9, 2008 | 5:42 pm1
Slowing the trajectory of the world’s population in a humane and respectful manner can be achieved by granting women equal status in their communities, providing contraception and abortion services, and offering women the opportunity to become educated.
“Population change is linked to economic development, education, the environment, the status of women, epidemics and other health threats, and access to family planning information and services. All of these factors interact with every facet of our lives, regardless of where we live.” Population Reference Bureau 2007.
Though women do not bear the full responsibility for population growth - c’mon guys, wipe that smirk off your face - when women are educated they have more options open to them and they have more social power. Educated women have lower fertility rates. They choose to have fewer children.
From the Chinese Vice Minister of the State Population and Family Planning Commission 2003: “Education is a key factor in sustainable development. The reduction of fertility, morbidity and mortality rates, the empowerment of women, the improvement in the quality of the working population and the promotion of genuine democracy are largely assisted by progress in education. The increase in the education of women and girls contributes to greater empowerment of women, to a postponement of the age of marriage and to a reduction in the size of families.”
Of course there are other factors involved in our population problems. But witness today’s fertility rates in countries where there is more equality for women such as European nations, US, and Canada. The birth rate is so low that in most countries all population growth is from immigration.
Fundamentally, draconian solutions produce resentment and ultimately are not sustainable, while offering women greater opportunities is a shared value for most people and can be the strategy which stabilizes and reduces our global glut of Homo Sapiens.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/W6038E/w6038e02.htm
http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/623WorldPop.aspx?p=1
http://www.china-un.ch/eng/ljzg/shjjtj/t85856.htm