Monitor | A grotesque - and ludicrous - answer to global warming
British charity peddles absurd idea to offset carbon emissions via contraception in Africa
Browsing the internet the other day I came across something I thought at first was an inspired piece of satire.
But as I read on, it dawned on me this was no satire. It was meant in deadly earnest.
This startling website allows them to assuage their green guilt at a stroke. All they have to do is tap in a few details about their lifestyle, and it tells them how much money they need to donate to offset their carbon emissions.
The site's backer, a British charity, then uses this money to fund contraception for women in Madagascar, because, as the website explains "an 'absent' human (i.e. one whose birth has been avoided) cannot produce CO2 (nor can their 'absent' descendants)."
You can see why I thought this was satire: prevent the birth of enough future carbon-emitters in Africa, and you can happily fly off business class to the Maldives secure in the knowledge that you are doing nothing to fuel global warming.
This idea is not only grotesque, it is ludicrous.