Modest proposals: To fight global warming, why not legislate number of children per household? Why not genetically engineer ourselves to produce dwarf-like children so that a family of 10 can fit in one car?

Use family planning to fight climate change

In my view, we need to change our behaviour of producing many children. The only way this can be possible is by practicing family planning in each and every household.

One way to achieve this is through universal access to contraceptives, massive family planning champagnes, sensitization and legislating number of children per household. If we are to fight climate change, we need to reduce our demographic figures.

Efforts need to be done to increase family planning practice to reduce our household size as well as lower fertility and birth rates. 

Biologist Wynne Parry proposes reducing our human size. She suggests that we can alter ourselves through human engineering where one chooses whether to have small size children or not. Smaller in size and height (dwarf-like) to reduce demand.

This would mean instead of having 500 buses in Kampala, we would require 80 of them to solve transport problems in Kampala, one car would be enough for a family of 10 people. Much as this would reduce GHG emission levels, this approach may remain in theory forever. 

...The writer is an Academia and Consultant in Environment, Urban and regional planning