Permissible Population Policy as a Means of Averting Harmful Climate Change

Overview

This is an opportunity to conduct fully funded interdisciplinary research under the Sustainable Transitions Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme at the University of Essex.

This project will examine how the size and structure of the global human population exert a profound impact on climate change. The aim of this research project is to explore the range of morally defensible national and global policies for managing the size and structure of the global population that could reasonably be considered to contribute to climate change mitigation. Although some policies for managing population are clearly indefensible (e.g., enforced sterilisation), there is scope for morally defensible population policies. To explore the range of morally defensible population policies, this research project will combine normative and empirical scholarship. It will explore and advance existing research in ethics and political philosophy on the moral goals and constraints that should guide and limit population policies. It will also draw on research in sciences, including demography and climate science, to analyse the impact that population size and structure, as well as distinct population policies, can have on climate change. 

Interdisciplinary focus

The research project’s interdisciplinary focus arises from the fact that it must explore moral as well as empirical claims: population policies will be permissible only if their goal justifies the burdens they impose and if they do not violate individual rights. Their permissibility depends, also, on empirical evidence related to the overall impact they are likely to have on climate change. 

Training and support

You will be supported through the Sustainable Transitions training programme which provides initial training in interdisciplinary research methods, training in the secondary discipline within the project area and ongoing training throughout the duration of the programme. All doctoral scholars benefit from the support of Proficio, which entitles you to £2,500 that can be used to purchase training courses either within or external to the University.

Additionally Sustainable Transitions scholars are entitled to £10,000 that can be used to cover research costs and further training. Scholars are encouraged to audit masters and degree level course where appropriate. You will also have the support of the Sustainable Transitions management team, as well as your own supervisory team.  All Sustainable Transitions scholars will become part of the University of Essex Centre for Environment and Society through which ongoing events and networking opportunities are available.

Person specification

This opportunity would suit a candidate with a degree or background in international relations, political science, political economy, public policy or political theory. The successful applicant should have a solid grounding in political theory, ethics or normative political philosophy, and a clear interest in climate change and population policy; further training in healthcare, educational policy or population science can be provided on the programme as needed.  

Research proposal

The project area is broadly defined, leaving scope for the applicant to develop their own specific research proposal as part of the application. The successful candidate will further develop their proposal in close consultation with the supervisory team.  

Supervision

The primary discipline supervisor takes the lead responsibility for supervising the project. For further detail relating to supervision see the Guidance for Applicants (.docx) document.

Additional background information

Population growth is one of the most impactful drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and consequently of harmful climate change. As the global population increases, so does our total consumption of goods and services. Improvements in technology can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted in the production of those goods and services. However, depending on its extent, and where it occurs in the world (whether in higher- or lower-emitting countries), the impact of population growth can outstrip technology improvements and exacerbate the risk of harmful climate change. Policies that manage the size and structure of the global population, then, are among many measures that may be needed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and support adaptation.

Some of these policies do not require careful examination as they would violate specific human rights such as the right to bodily integrity. On the other hand, policies that provide women in low-income countries with greater educational and family planning opportunities, and thereby significantly reduce the fertility rate, are generally regarded as justified on independent grounds of social justice and therefore fall outside this project’s primary normative focus. Between these two poles, however, lies the moral grey area of population policy options. Consider, policies that incentivise people to have fewer children, or impose financial penalties on those who have many children. Or consider policies that make it harder for couples to have children (e.g., by reducing their legal entitlement to parental leave or reducing child benefits). Given that the impact of population growth on greenhouse gas emissions depends on its national location – i.e., on whether it occurs in higher- or lower-emitting countries – population policies for averting harmful climate change could seek to influence migration, as well as fertility. Should higher-emitting countries discourage immigration, so as to reduce their population size and thus overall emissions? Should these countries focus instead on assisting green economic development in the low-income countries? These policy options and their geographical application are not straightforwardly indefensible or justified, and thus require close examination.

Illuminating this policy space requires both normative theorising and a careful understanding of the empirical relationships between population and climate change. Averting harmful climate change can justify pursuing population policies only if, first, the size and structure of the global population would otherwise evolve along a trajectory that exacerbates risk and, second, a given policy is likely to have a measurable impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions; both are empirical questions. This project is primarily normative and theoretical: its original contribution is to clarify the moral principles and constraints that should govern human population policies, treating such policies as one limited component of a wider mitigation and adaptation toolkit. It will not involve primary empirical research, but will instead synthesise and critically engage with leading work on population forecasting and its effects on climate change.  

How to Apply

Full details available at Sustainable Transitions Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme.

Supervisory team references

1. Paul Bou-Habib and Serena Olsaretti, “Children or Migrants as Public Goods?”, Political Studies (2023).
2. Paul Bou-Habib, “Climate Justice and Historical Responsibility”, The Journal of Politics (2019).  
3. Paul Bou-Habib, “Parental Subsidies: The Argument from Insurance”, Politics, Philosophy and Economics (2013).   
4. GBD 2017 Population and Fertility Collaborators (including Reza Majdzadeh). Population and fertility by age and sex for 195 countries and territories, 1950-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2018 Nov 10;392(10159):1995-2051. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32278-5.  
5. Seyedtabib M, Moghimbeigi A, Mahmoudi M, Majdzadeh R, Mahjub H. Pattern and determinant factors of birth intervals among Iranian women: a semi-parametric multilevel survival model. J Biosoc Sci. 2020 Jul;52(4):534-546. doi: 10.1017/S0021932019000610.