Climate change shouldn't be a reason for people to give up on parenthood
OPINION: I just read the article by Mia Sutherland where she states her reasons for believing that she needs to give up the idea of motherhood. She believes that "overpopulation is a part of the reason global warming is accelerating at such a rate", and that any child she produces "will have to grow up in a rapidly changing environment, which may not be safe". I hope that she doesnt go ahead with her plan, for a number of reasons. Overpopulation itself is not a reason for global warming, The population could be double what it is now, if we were living without all the technological advances that we have come to need. These devices use rare elements that have to be ripped from the ground, and then undergo hugely polluting processes to form the cases, wiring, batteries, chips and screens. READ MORE: * The unexpected and unavoidable consequences of living with climate change * Kiwis suffering depression, anxiety and hopelessness because of climate change * Natalie Imbruglia proves fertility is more than a 'women's problem' Weve come to need cars, which even if they are electric, still have to be produced using hugely polluting processes. And the electricity that EVs use is currently produced mainly by methods which also increase pollution. Even if overpopulation was the reason for global warming, women in developed nations giving up the idea of having kids will have little effect. The birth rate in developed nations is already either close to or less than the replacement rates, which is a recipe for disaster. As China found out, restricting couples to one child only led to the situation where there were many old people and fewer children to look after them in their old age. Every child effectively has two parents and four grandparents to support. If you do not have kids, then you have no-one to support you in your old age, and the state may have to support you. In addition, reducing populations would mean fewer people to fill all the roles of society. Fewer doctors. Fewer farmers. Fewer teachers. Fewer builders. Fewer truckers and fewer people to make the trucks. There would be fewer people to maintain the fabric of society: the roads and the factories, and wed have more situations like Lumsden Maternity Centre, where services are cut because of reduced usage. So, the best birth rate is around the replacement rate, and most developed countries are almost at that level now. In undeveloped countries the birth rate is still sky high, and the way to cut that is to turn underdeveloped countries into developed countries by providing education and aid. However, Mias second reason for not having kids concerns me more. She is concerned about the world that her children might grow up in. That it might not be safe. This is nothing new. I grew up when the Cold War was at its height. The USSR and the US were stockpiling enough nuclear weapons, some said, to annihilate the whole planet (they still have them, by the way). When we went to bed at night we didnt know if we would wake up in the morning. I cant convey the shadow of fear that we lived under. Yet people still had kids. Does it make sense to have kids if there is a real fear that they might be living in a seriously damaged world? Of course not. The same goes whether or not the world is destroyed in a flash or over a few decades. A good dose of hope is needed to have kids, and Mia and her supporters have hope. Otherwise they would not believe that they can challenge the status quo and change things. They have hope otherwise they would not protest. I love their drive, their ambition and their hope. Climate change is the biggest threat to the human race, and its wonderful to see these kids trying to change that. But it is likely that future generations will need to finish the work that Mia and her supporters have started. So, please dont stop having kids, Mias generation. Trust that things will get better. Have two of them. If the next generation cant live sustainably, then maybe the next will. Maybe your kids will be needed to finish what you started. Stuff Nation