“There are more pressing things to worry about than climate change”

• Feb. 5 by Natalie Adcock (1)

This week’s Birmingham Green Drinks turned controversial when Nigel Leach from Worcester told the group that they don’t need to worry about climate change because there are more serious things threatening our world like overpopulation and water shortage.

He believes that over population is a problem because it is predicted that we will reach eight billion people by the year 2025 and he states that if we keep consuming water at this rate then the region will soon face a shortfall.

In a handout that he gave to the Green Drinks attendees he stated that some of the causes of the problems are procreation, medicine, peace and sanitation and some solutions to the problem are war, famine, more violence and disease.

Nigel, who describes himself as an optimist driven to pessimistic conclusions, said:

“I do believe that climate change is happening, it is irrefutable, but I believe that there are more pressing things to worry about.

If climate change doesn’t get you, then population and a lack of resources will!

We always think we haven’t got enough – society is driven by this belief and even people who think that they’re benefiting society are contributing to their own growth in some way.”

Malcolm Currie of Globally Local, who helps organising the Green Drinks events, agreed and said:

“The older generation is used to rationing and conserving resources like food and water, but the younger generation is growing up wanting everything and wanting it now.

For example, they want the latest iPod, just three months after buying the last one.

We need to give them the tools to clean up this mess!”

In one provocative statement Nigel said that better female education would help with our population issues while others pointed out not to lay the blame with one gender.

Another member of the group suggested that we learn from China who limit couples to having one child per family.

Nigel ended the evening by asking the Green Drinks group to think about the following quote called the Bartlett challenge:

“Can you think of any problem in any area of human endeavour on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term solution is in any demonstrable way aided, assisted or advanced by further increases in population, locally, nationally or globally?

Green Drinks is always held on the second Tuesday of the month at Locanta restaurant at 6:00PM since it began in November, talking about the latest sustainability news in the Midlands.