Slow the growth, save the world? Why declining birth rates need not mean an end to prosperity

Political leaders fret about the fertility crisis'. That's nonsense, experts say. There's a desperate need for population shrinkage

• Birthrates are plummeting worldwide. Can governments turn the tide?
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We're taking things from the people of the future now," Mary Heath says from the kitchen where she's drying seeds to plant. The climate activist is talking about Earth Overshoot Day, the ominous annual milestone that marks when humanity has consumed more from the Earth than the Earth can replenish in a year.

Globally, the deficit started on 1 August, meaning we are using nature 1.7 times faster than our planet's ecosystems can regenerate".