6.6 Billion and Counting

The human population is now more than 6.6 billion, and each year 78 million more people are added to that number. When will the world be ready to acknowledge the importance of this issue?

In our special fall campaign, we at the Worldwatch Institute are raising $30,000 to expand the breadth and scope of our work on reproductive health and population. We have eight days to raise enough money to call attention to what many of you have called "the elephant in the room."

Continued growth in human numbers is greatly complicating efforts to stabilize concentrations of greenhouse gases. It also contributes to a lack of clean water, exploited natural resources, and high proportions of young people who lack meaningful prospects in countries with rapidly growing populations.

Your contribution of $35, $50, $100, $250, or more will make this critical work possible.

While many other organizations shy away from the subject, Worldwatch is working to bring attention to the population issue in sensitive and constructive ways. For example, many leaders still don't understand that as many as two in five pregnancies worldwide aren't intended or welcomed—a problem that can be addressed with education and the provision of basic reproductive health services. But we need your help! Your contribution of $35, $50, $100, $250, or more will make this critical work possible.

You will get the biggest bang for your buck. Three generous Friends of Worldwatch have pledged a dollar-for-dollar match of up to $15,000, so your gift will have twice the impact!

If population is such a serious issue, why isn't every mainstream environmental organization talking about it?

Since its founding just four years after the first Earth Day in 1970, Worldwatch has presented human population as a critical force to be understood and addressed in building sustainable societies. Over the past seven years, the U.S. government has reduced its support of international family planning, heightening the need for organizations like Worldwatch to tackle this critical issue.

The Institute's focus on population—rare among environmental groups and unique within environmental research—has been expressed in our books, Worldwatch Papers, State of the World chapters, and even in the hiring of specific researchers dedicated to the topic. While we haven't focused on population as much as we'd like to in recent years, we want to change that.

But we can only do it with your help. Your voice is crucial in setting the agenda for our research. Let us know how much you care about this issue by making a gift today.

Can I count on you?

Sincerely,

Christopher Flavin
President

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