AFGW-ACT Inc. is a member of the Australian Federation of University Women which, in turn is affiliated with the International Federation of University Women (I.F.U.W.).

AFUW-ACT Inc. October 2010 Meeting Report

Topic: “How sustainable is sustainability?”

Speaker: Dr. Paul Collins


Born in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1940, Paul Collins is an historian, broadcaster, and writer. In March 2001 he resigned from the active priestly ministry of the Catholic Church due to a dispute with the Vatican’s Congregation for the doctrine of the Faith over his book Papal Power. For many years he has worked in varying capacities in TV and radio with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He also writes regularly for many of Australia’s leading newspapers and magazines, as well as for the London Tablet, the National Catholic Reporter in the United States and for several Catholic magazines in Germany. At present he presents the ABC TV programme, Sunday Spectrum. It examines ethical, spiritual and philosophical/theological issues in the contemporary world. He has a Master’s degree in theology (Th.M.) from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in history from the Australian National University (ANU). He has taught church history and theology in Australia, US and Pacific countries and worked as a parish priest in Sydney and Hobart. In 1998 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the ANU, and Ethel Hayton Visiting Fellow in Religion and Society at the university of Wollongong. He also has wide experience in tertiary and adult education. Between 1988 and 1996 he was a producer-presenter with the ABC in radio and TV, and for three years he was Specialist Editor-Religion for the ABC. He is the author of Mixed Blessings [Penguin, 1986], No Set Agenda. Australia’s Catholic Church Faces an Uncertain Future [David Lovell, 1991], God’s Earth. Religion as if matter really mattered [Harper Collins 1995], Papal Power [Harper Collins, 1997], Upon This Rock. The development of the papal office from Saint Peter to John Paul II [Melbourne University Press, 2000], and From Inquisition to Freedom [Simon and Schuster, 2001]. He is at present working on a book on the ethics of population. While he is well known as a commentator on the papacy, he also has a strong interest in environmental and population issues, and his book God’s Earth has been made into a major TV documentary by the ABC. He is a member of the Australian National Committee for the Earth Charter and he was also one of a thousand world religious leaders invited to attend the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit in August 2000. Nowadays he works as a freelance writer, speaker and broadcaster on environmental issues, social ethics, theology, history and communication. (From Sustainable Population Australia )

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Population causes global warming. The Black Death wiped out one third of the population. How to deal with the problem? If we live sustainably then we will survive. Sustainable development must meet the needs of the present while leaving enough for the next generation. This leaves Nature out. Some claim logging is sustainable because the trees will grow back again but it will not be an old growth forest for 400 years and the species which depend on it will be gone. Some countries have an endless cycle of burning even though this cycle accentuates the vegetation conditions that encourage wildfires in the first place. Sustainability is in the eye of the beholder and is so difficult to define that we refuse to make the hard decisions.

Report

What does sustainability mean in terms of population?

The UK based Optimum Population Trust has calculated countries’ carrying capacities by comparing actual population numbers with how many people a specific country could sustain with a modest footprint carrying capacity. For example Australia’s present population is 22 million and its carrying capacity is 18 million; world figures for 11 countries’ carrying capacity is approximately 630 million but actual population exceeds 2.9 billion. The present situation is therefore unsustainable. Paul thinks Tim Flannery is too optimistic as he hopes the world will do something about it.

Contraception has been seen as an answer to the population problem though the great religious traditions have had little to say about over-population. Roman Catholics have always been accused of having lots of children, but historical evidence doesn’t show this.

Allocation of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin is proving a contentious issue. The ARAL SEA - shows devastation in one place. Its water comes from the Pamirs and has supported cotton growing but it is now half its original size. The Murray Darling Commission said the river is in worse condition than the Aral Sea. Too many licences have been handed out for cotton and rice. There were early signs of problems in 1992 -93 with blue green algae. Now there is the consequences of climate change. Governments both State and Federal have shown little responsibility. There has been a movement to put the economy above the environment. Where there is population decline, there is less consumption - Indonesia has a lower population growth than Australia. Religion can persuade people to change. Muslim countries have reduced their numbers. The environment is for the good of the whole. If we destroy what we have now where do we go for replenishment? Lovelock is right in saying that nature is built in an organic system. We are responsible for the natural world and we have to act socially, economically, and politically to save it. Hope can stimulate action. We have to act for future generations - the liberation of women in developing countries is a help.