Population Institute
The Population Institute is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., United States.
Global Population Speak Out is its special project. Founded by John Feeney, PhD, an environmantal writer and activist based in Boulder, Colorado, United States, GPSO is designed to boost public discussion of human overpopulation as a key factor in the struggle for sustainable living on Earth.
The project has three stages. First, a pledge letter explaining GPSO is endorsed by a group of high-profile scientists, activists and celebrities. Over the years, endorsers have included scientists such as Paul R. Ehrlich, and Dennis Meadows. The letter is distributed to people interested in human population dynamics, urging them to speak out publicly during the month of February about the growing human population. Scientists, representatives of environmental NGO’s, science writers and activists, along with ordinary concerned citizens are targeted. Finally, the recruits are asked to report their project activities back to the GPSO coordinator, who posts them on the GPSO website.
Background
Dr. Feeney conceived of the GPSO idea in 2008 and organized and managed the first Global Population Speak Out in February 2009. He subsequently arranged for the GPSO franchise, and future GPSO activities, to be managed by the Population Institute, Washington D.C.GPSO 2009
After the letter had been signed by 32 persons, GPSO started as a project in the World Wide Web in September 2008. In October the journal Science wrote:"At a time when some developed nations are paying citizens to bolster flagging birth-rates, a grass-roots group of scientists and environmentalists is calling for a new push to limit human numbers".
GPSO is being supported by the World Union for Protection of Life, which was founded in Luxembourg 1964.
GPSO 2009 received pledges from 216 persons in at least 17 countries. Among them was John Guillebaud, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning & Reproductive Health, University College London, and former Co-chair of OPT. In November 2009 the Population Institute, established since 1969 in Washington D.C., declared its cooperation with GPSO.
In 2009, the Global Population Speak Out was covered in Science, The Christian Science Monitor and The Times Online, among others.