In this enlightening interview, three professional population activists — Phoebe Barnard, Florence Blondel and Stephanie Feldstein — share their thoughts on:

• Why talking about population is the right thing to do
• How to open up the conversation about the intersection of population, consumption, climate change and biodiversity loss
• What the situation of Ugandan women in rural areas looks like and why they want change (more gender equality and reproductive rights)
• The role women should play in the discussion about a sustainable population
• Why raising up the voices of men is exceptionally important too
• How Stable Planet Alliance, Population Matters and Center for Biological Diversity work to shift the dialogue and public policy about sustainable population
• The hopes of these three activists for future of our planet

Phoebe Barnard is a conservation biologist and global change ecologist who worked for 34 years in South Africa and Namibia on climate change, biodiversity, human ecology and behavior change. She is the cofounder and CEO of Stable Planet Alliance, a global coalition of respected organizations working to bend the curve on human population and resource consumption. She founded Girl Planet Earth, a global platform for women and girls to talk about population, hyperconsumption and planetary health.

Florence Blondel is a social change and environmental campaigner originating from Uganda. Florence started her career as a news reporter for Ugandan NTV where she covered sexual and reproductive health issues. After getting a degree in Population and Development from London School of Economics and Political Science she transitioned to the marketing world and since 2018, she has been working for nonprofit Population Matters, currently as Communications Officer. 

Stephanie Feldstein is the Population and Sustainability Director at the Center for Biological Diversity where she heads a national program that addresses unsustainable human population, overconsumption and the extinction of plants and animals around the world. Prior to this, Stephanie worked for Change.org, where she helped hundreds of people implement online campaigns to protect wildlife. 

Links: 

• Stable Planet Alliance
• Girl Planet.Earth
• Population and Sustainability Program of the Center for Biological Diversity
• Population Matters