Anti-population growth group protest COP 26 with giant inflatable baby

The anti-population growth group ‘Population Matters’ are today protesting COP 26 with giant inflatable baby.

The group says the 7-metre high ‘Big Baby’ will be bringing the message to the COP26 climate change conference that our growing human population is a major contributor to climate change, and that having fewer children is one of the most effective steps that people can take in fighting it.

Big Baby is being brought to the event by the charity Population Matters as part of its campaign to highlight the importance of population and family size in driving, and tackling, the climate crisis. Carrying a toy aeroplane and wearing a bib saying “Smaller Families, Cooler Planet”, Big Baby will inform negotiators, activists, politicians and the public that, for Brits who can make the choice, having one fewer child is one of the most effective single actions they can take over the long term to cut the emissions they are responsible for.

Population Matters Director Robin Maynard says: “Big Baby is a humorous prompt for people to think seriously about their individual choices. Each and every one of us added to the planet contributes to climate change as consumers. If we are to ensure a safe world for future generations to grow up in, we must make thoughtful choices now and here in the richest parts of the world where our emissions are so high, choosing a smaller family is the most effective eco-action any of us can take. And we must extend that choice to those who do not have it around the world by empowering women and girls through education and the provision of modern, voluntary family planning.

“Of course, there are multiple, additional transformative actions that individuals, society, business and politics must take to curb climate change – those are the things being discussed at COP26 and it’s vital that world leaders take decisive action on all of them at last. Big Baby’s job is to remind people, politicians and the policymakers meeting in Glasgow that tackling population growth will help all those other solutions work better.”