I became a feminist as an alternative to becoming a masochist.

We believe the major causes of global environmental degradation are:

· Economic systems that exploit and misuse nature and people in the drive for short-term and short-sighted gains and profits.

· The rapid urbanization and poverty resulting from migration from rural areas and from inadequate planning and resource allocation in towns and cities.

· The displacement of small farmers and indigenous peoples by agribusiness, timber, mining, and energy corporations, often with encouragement and assistance from international financial institutions, and with the complicity of national governments.

· The disproportionate consumption patterns of the affluent the world over. Currently, the industrialized nations, with 22% of the world's population, consume 70% of the world's resources. Within the United States, deepening economic inequalities mean that the poor are consuming less, and the rich more.

· Technologies designed to exploit but not to restore natural resources.

· War making and arms production which divest resources from human needs, poison the natural environment and perpetuate the militarization of culture, encouraging violence against women.

Demographic variables can have an impact on the environment, but reducing population growth will not solve the above problems. In many countries, population growth rates have declined yet environmental conditions continue to deteriorate.

Moreover, blaming global environmental degradation on population growth helps to lay the groundwork for the re-emergence and intensification of top-down, demographically driven population policies and programs which are deeply disrespectful of women, particularly women of color and their children.

Women, Population & the Environment | Call For A New Approach