STRIVING FOR A DECENT LIFE FOR ALL

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Population and Human Numbers Extraordinary population changes have taken place in the past 150 years - human numbers have increased from one billion to 5,4 billion today. If present trends continue, there will be at least 8,5 billion people in the year 2025. The human population is growing exponentially, i.e. the rate of increase is continuously applied to an ever-expanding number, identical to a bank account where interest is compounded. Human populations are growing exponentially, or "exploding" because children, comparable to the interest earned on a bank account, have children themselves. Clearly, more people make greater demands on the earth's resources. However, human impact on the earth is not determined only by numbers of people, but also by how much energy and other resources each person uses or wastes. Sustainable living is possible only if human numbers and demand for resources are kept within the earth's carrying capacity. If we apply to our lives the rules we apply when managing other species, we should curb population growth well before human numbers reach our estimate of what the planet can support. This is particularly important because whilst we know that there is an ultimate limit to the planet's carrying capacity, we are uncertain exactly what it is. Facts and Figures - Human Population and Resource Consumption Commercial energy (e.g. coal, oil, nuclear) consumption is a useful measure of environmental impact. Energy enables people to take resources from the environment, to change them into usable products, and consume them. During this process waste is produced, and often released into the environment as pollution. (See Energy Policy) The 42 countries in the world that use the most energy per person contain only one quarter of the world's population but account for four-fifths of its use of commercial energy. The 128 countries that use the least amount of energy per person contain three quarters of the world's population but use only one-fifth of commercial energy consumption. On average, a person in a `high energy consumption' country consumes 18 times the commercial energy used by a person in a `low energy consumption' country, and causes twice as much pollution. One North American causes the emission of twice as much carbon dioxide as a South American, and ten times as much as someone in South or East Asia (excluding Japan). Although most `high energy consumption' countries have near- stable populations (i.e. the population growth is close to zero) their resource consumption continues to rise.
Population Growth and Poverty Population growth rates are highest where poverty is most severe - why is this so? Where there is poverty people have less security and fewer choices. It seems that with economic development and the range of options it brings, people, particularly women, choose not to have large families. Economic development and a widespread distribution of the benefits it can bring, creates jobs and improves education and health facilities. With improved education facilities, more women will have opportunities to attend school. More jobs means that women, drawn into the growing job market, become wage earners in their own right. New found status and empowerment resulting from earnings and education, coupled with access to family planning services, allow women greater control in deciding how many children they will bear. A desire to remain employed, and fewer child deaths (as a result of better health services) no doubt contribute to a decision to limit the number of children born. In some societies, where financial structures such as pension and retirement annuity schemes are not readily available, having children is a rational choice as they provide security for their parents' old age. Giving people the means (through the vote, improved social and legal status, education, access to family planning and financial independence) to choose the size of their families will not only help keep the population in balance with resources; it is also a way of assuring, especially for women, the basic right of self- determination. Concern over population growth is a call of concern for human progress and human equality. Some Population Statistics The world's population of 5,3 billion is increasing by three people every second, which is equivalent to a quarter of a million people every day. South Africa's estimated population of 41,7 million is growing at a rate of 2,6% each year, making it set to double within the next 25 years. Topics for debate Some people maintain that economic growth will reduce population growth in many countries. Is this a realistic solution in view of the environmental damage that traditionally accompanies much of the industrial and commercial activity associated with economic growth? For sustainable living all societies need a balance between resources and population. Could it be argued that in South Africa the balance has been destroyed by colonial and apartheid policies and through this process, major environmental problems have been created? Thus it is not population numbers that threaten the South African environment, but the lack of access to resources on the one hand and the overconsumption of resources on the other. In South Africa, is poverty a result of having too many children - or are large families a symptom of poverty? (The above information is published as an Enviro-Facts leaflet) Population Greens support worldwide zero population growth. We would promote contraception research, distribution, and education at home and overseas. None of the other Green Party proposals will save the environment if the human population continues to grow at the current rate. The Green Party believes humans have a unique responsibility for stewardship of the Earth. No species, especially on the upper end of the food chain, can have unchecked exponential growth without depleting the Earth's carrying capacity--human population expands at the expense of other species. Population growth and wasteful use of resources (food, shelter, raw materials & energy) are the primary cause of all conservation problems. The problem is a complex one and can only be solved by a multi-disciplinary approach which addresses socio-economic upliftment and acceptable birth control methods. The most important controllable development elements that influence population growth are: Economic development and political stability, adult literacy and formal education, health and medical services, social and family structure, family planning. The Green Party believes that these activities must be properly integrated and co-ordinated if the problem is to be solved. Limiting the discussion to population numbers and birthrates diverts attention from overconsumption in the industrial world and historic patterns of exploitation of developing countries. Consumption-oriented life-styles that have evolved in the industrial world have resulted in a minority of people consuming a majority of resources. This is as significant of a threat to the Earth's carrying capacity, or possibly more significant, than high birth rates in low-consumption countries. It is thus vital that resource utilization is managed to meet human need and not human greed. Current global demographics demonstrate that economic well-being promotes low birthrates. Any discussion of population must also be a discussion of women throughout the world. There is documented evidence that the economic and social status of women is a primary factor in birthrates: when women have control over their lives, birthrates decrease. Also, a major barrier to the improvement of women's reproductive health is a lack of shared responsibility between men and women in family planning. A combination of male attitudes and cultural traditions have resulted in most men being undereducated and uninvolved in the planning of their families. Our global realities are that population is increasing while food production has levelled off; that when population increases faster than the economy grows, the disparity between rich and poor also increases; that higher human consumption rates and populations increase the pressure on the environment in every ecological problem area. In South Africa the population growth rate is presently 2,%, or a doubling time of 25 years, which means we will have to double food, schools, housing, electricity generation and jobs to maintain current life-styles and consumption levels. However, we cannot double our water supplies, farmland, forests or waste disposal capacity. For humanity to live in balance with nature, the Green Party advocates the following: People should be educated to live sustainable lifestyles otherwise the environmental impact of a stable population will be as great as that of a growing population because of increased consumption of resources. Draw up a blueprint for a sustainable lifestyle. Publicise the importance of the effect of excessive resource utilization and population growth on life support systems. Confront the issue with the awareness that consumption and population are culturally sensitive. Those, not living in poverty, must end the habits of waste and overconsumption that place as much stress on the environment as does population growth in developing nations. The Green Party will act to remove the political and economic barriers which prevent women from having all the resources necessary to become skilled family planners. There must be access to free birth control devices, information, counseling and clinics to all who desire them. Funds must be allocated for expanded scientific research into safer and more effective birth control techniques and devices. We demand better-than-adequate health care for women and children--especially prenatal care. We call for implementation of family planning education for both genders in all levels of the state school system. We must promote new traditions and images of men becoming fully involved in all aspects of the family planning process. We will associate with, or join local family planning committees to show solidarity of purpose.
Sustainable Development The concept of sustainable development stems from the recognition of the growing impact of human economic activity and numbers on the global environment. It also emphasises the need to integrate environmental management and economic development in order to maintain and improve the quality of life. The most common definition of sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present while not compromising the needs of future generations. The wide range of interpretations given to this apparently straightforward definition have emphasised that there is no single accepted definition and no single clear path, or model, for achieving sustainable development. The following priority objectives (adapted from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) "Policy and Strategy for Environment and Sustainable Development") are proposed as those most relevant to sustainable development in the South African situation. To accelerate environmentally and economically-sustainable development with greater equity and self reliance. To improve the health, income and living conditions of the poor majority. To ensure equitable and sustainable use of environmental and natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations. Green Paper on the Environment October, 1996
A DECENT LIFE FOR ALL Greens stand for equal opportunity for all, regardless of class, race, creed, culture, gender, sexual orientation, or physical and mental handicaps. We call for community programs that would allow all people to live in decency and dignity. We support: A state funded health insurance system, modelled on the Canadian medical system, which would guarantee adequate health care for all South African citizens. Integrating alternative health care and preventative medicine, including traditional healing included in a comprehensive health care system. Expanded job training and apprenticeship programs. Guaranteed loan and scholarship programs that would allow any qualified student, no matter how poor, the opportunity for tertiary education, with ongoing assistance subject to due academic performance by the student. Greens strive to nurture home and family life. We would help working parents by promoting expanded day-care and after-school programs, and state-assisted parental leave policies. We would seek to limit the damages of divorce by: Upholding existing divorce and child maintenance laws to protect women and children. Insuring prompt payment of court-ordered child support and alimony. We would nurture the extended family by supporting a comprehensive system of support for the elderly that would provide affordable studio apartments, shared housing, and home health services in all neighbourhoods, thus allowing the elderly to remain near friends and relatives.
Gender and Racial Equality Domination and competition are the organising principles of society: top-down hierarchical structures determine the management of corporations, schools, prisons, hospitals, universities, churches, and of course, government. Dominance sets a pattern for unequal power relationships between men and women, people of different colours, rich and poor, humans and nature. We must replace dominance and control (the patriarchal system) with partnership and co-operation. Present stereotypes of masculinity and femininity are not an adequate characterisation of what it is to be human. We must respect values and feelings as well as rationality in our approach to life; consider means as well as goals; and appreciate the contemplative part of life as much as the active. We must base our society on trust, not fear; nurturing, not control of others; open communications, not manipulation; empathy with others, not violence against others; respect for nature, not conquest of nature. Green policies include a recognition that life experiences of men and women are different and that comprehensive social change is needed to allow women and men achieve their full potential. We further recognise that the private worlds of personal relations, marriage, domestic life and childcare are deeply political. A shift in thinking and a re-evaluation of private and public experiences of men and women is fundamental to a redefinition to what is political. Sexual identities based on mutual respect, caring, self-determination and equality are supported by the Greens. Because women are not, and have not been, involved as equal partners in the leadership levels of decision-making, we commit ourselves to achieving gender balance in private and public leadership positions. The Greens believe that promoting women to public power and decision making positions is vital for the advancement of and equality of representation for women. Adequate funding for community based women's groups must be provided to ensure a flow of women from grassroots level to all levels of representation in society. We further support the equal division of house work and childcare to ensure that domestic commitments of women do not reinforce their unequal treatment in the labour force. At a most basic and fundamental level we recognise that women are the main consumers and providers of health care. Women, therefore, carry enormous responsibilities in society, and a holistic approach is needed to ensure that women's needs are met.
Sex Education The Green Party supports the provision of sex education, comprehensive contraceptive advice and information as preventative measures against unprepared pregnancy which is a frightening and at times life-threatening situation for women. We support the provision of information in a non-directive counselling setting, where all the options open to a woman are professionally and comprehensively examined to allow her reach a decision and choose an option which is best for her in her particular and individual circumstances. Abortion Abortion is a troubling issue to some Greens. They argue that an ethic of non-violence must include foetuses and ban all abortion. The majority of us support a woman's right to choose whether or not she carries a pregnancy to term. We feel that a greater harm is committed when the state interferes in what should be a private matter. We believe that a woman should be free to make choices about childbearing. This freedom must include birth control education, easy access to contraceptives, legalised abortion, reformed adoption practices, and community support for families, such as affordable health care and housing, paid parental leave and available childcare and elder care both inside and outside the home. Abortion is not a desirable form of birth control -- it is a final recourse. Preventing pregnancy is the better option. Green philosophy regards women as life-givers, and we see the loss of even a potential for life as regrettable. We should work to create a society in which abortion becomes less necessary. Humans must become aware that the human population pressure on the planet is resulting in the mass extinction of other species. Women especially should realise that their right to make their own choices about reproduction must also include an awareness of their responsibility to life on this planet as a whole. Women must realise that families of more than 2 children per couple adds to the damage of the planet and the ecosystems that support us, and they should exercise their reproductive rights in full awareness of the Earth's ecological crises.
A RENEWED COMMUNITY LIFE Our nation's history of colonialism, oppression and apartheid, combined with urbanisation, overdevelopment, overcommercialization, the influx of outside values, and the building of sprawling suburbs and dense high-rises, have significantly eroded the spirit of Ubuntu ("Oneness") of the South African people. True communities are places where people know each other, treat each other as friends, and share values and traditions. Communities give meaning and richness to life. The community's history, landmarks and landscapes afford a sense of belonging and identity. Greens favour social policies that reinvigorate community life. Neighbourhood and community have traditionally been a basic unit of politics, a natural forum for discussion, decisions, and actions. Greens strongly believe that ordinary citizens should make decisions directly affecting their communities. (See Grassroots democracy) Schools should be co-managed by parents, teachers, and students. The GREEN PARTY believes that: The community (not distant bureaucracies and professionals) is the best provider of social services. Creating, strengthening, and transforming community-based associations and mutual-aid groups is the best way to care for our fellow humans. Small businesses and co-operatives should form the vibrant basis of the community's economic activities, not mass consumer-oriented facilities owned by offshore corporations who drain off major profits. Neighbourhoods and towns need to be redesigned to encourage neighbourliness and community. Cities and towns need not be car-centred and congested. Properly planned, they can include many places for strolling, shopping, sidewalk cafes, public gatherings and festivities. This sense of green community extends to the environment. Just as the individual is incomplete without a healthy community, so is the human race dependent on its supporting ecosystem.