‘We need a planetary one-child policy’

This article was published in Spiked Online 15 December 2009

Malthusianism is so widespread that greens can now openly sing the praises of China’s population authoritarianism.

It is testament to the relentless rise of neo-Malthusianism that people are now openly praising China’s one-child policy. At the Copenhagen summit on climate change, Zhao Baige, vice-minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, said ‘population control is key to reaching a climate deal’, and none of the Western leaders or radical green activists – who have complained about everything from politicians’ use of limousines to the presence of Coca Cola – batted an eyelid (1).

In the run-up to the summit, leading Western greens gave thanks to China’s stringent population policies.