The world-wide ecological footprint per person came to 1.75 gha (global hectares) in the year 2018. The world population comes to around 8 billion. We would thus need 1.75 Earths to cover the consumption of resources over the long term.

Reducing the global footprint of 1.75 gha to 1 gha per person, would be possible with a world population of 4.571 billion people.

Switzerland has an ecological footprint of 2.75 gha. That is, to live like Switzerland would require a maximum global population of 2.909 billion. This number however is likely lower, since the calculation did not include resources from abroad.

OVOLPE’s objective is to limit the world population so that the global footprint for humanity to a maximum of 1, regardless of how high it is per capita. This should protect both the environment and liveable habitat on Earth, conserve natural resources for coming generations and provide for an improvement of living conditions for humanity. This may mean restrictions on liberty for many, but it is less of a restriction than they would experience if one were to turn the screws with consumption-based measures.

• Seen globally and international, the current state presents a Babylonian confusion of languages, which means that many countries in the world people have difficulty expressing and understanding language in their own country. For example, in Switzerland, with just at 9 million residents, there are four official national languages. One of them is Swiss-German. But the written language in the “German-speaking” part of Switzerland is High German, which is actually a foreign language. This is, admittedly, a rather extreme example, but it can be applied in a watered-down form to nearly all the countries on the Earth. In countries with multiple ethnic groups, larger portions of the population are forced to learn the national language, which, in turn, becomes completely useless as soon as they cross the national border.

  India provides a good example of the advantages of English as a world language, since English has become one of the official national languages in this country. India decided to establish English as a national language, not just to make communication among its own people easier, since there are many different variants of the Indian languages, but also to make communication in the international business world, and to facilitate the access to education and employment. In fact, India has developed quickly into an important actor on the global market – and English has played an important role in this. Without a shared language, which is abstracts from differences in origin and culture, it would have been much harder for India to assert itself in the global economy.

• «These deficiencies arise because there is no shared world language.» Languages learned in adulthood generally do not have the same quality and depth as the mother tongue. For that reason, it is to be desired that every child grows up bilingual. With the respective mother tongue, that is, the regional language, and the world language. This would make learning national languages superfluous and regional languages could be taught in schools along with the world language, both spoken and written forms. In travel, in business, in diplomacy, and in politics, as well as in science and research, and not least of all in interpersonal relationships in private life would bring enormous progress to a world language. Expenditures in costs and time could be considerably reduced and many misunderstandings and wrong decisions could be avoided.
• For that reason, OVOLPE is working for the official introduction of the English language as the world language.

• Every person should have a minimum quality of life:

  • 30 m2 private residential space, roofed, and if needed heated or cooled.
  • 2 meals per day with 1,800 to 3,600 kcal (depending on age and activity).
  • Genügend Kleidung. Das heisst mindestens fünf Outfits um sich von Kopf bis Fuss einzukleiden, wobei die Art der Kleidung sich primär am Klima vor Ort orientiert.
  • Completing school through at least UNESCO ISCED Level 2 (possibly 3). World-wide one goal is prescribed at this time: learning spoken and written English.
  • 1 means of transportation (e.g. E-scooter, (E)-bike, moped, car, horse).
  • Free contraceptives of choice.
  • Access to fresh drinking water.
  • Access to basic medical care.

The world population is still growing rapidly. Therefore, birth regulation would be the most efficient way to counteract this. Responsible people already tend to have as many children as their financial resources allow. This shows maturity and responsibility towards both, their offspring and to society.

Measures for implementing regulation of the number of birth
Basically, there are three possible means of implementing instructions or rules for controlling the number of births:
1. Training and education
2. Subsidies and support
3. Sanctions and penalties
All three methods should be used, while it is hoped that the latter will only need to be used in exceptional cases.

How regulating the number of births could look (OVOLPE model)

Basis
The current possible number of people on Earth is determined as measured annually by a scientific committee and is oriented definitively on the resource reserves as well as their consumption and the ecological footprint in gha (global hectares). Energy supply must be secured for all people in order to make a life of prosperity possible. Additionally, environmental factors such as CO2-emmission, water pollution, global warming, and the loss of species diversity.

Basic Provision
Every person has the right to one child per couple. Every child will be aided by the world community until and including at least UNESCO ISCED Level 2 (possibly 3) through required school attendance, provided with medical care, fed, and if needed, financed. There is compulsory registration with the child welfare authority (CWA). Every second child’s birth will be conditions on the precondition that that the parents of both children, to the extent foreseeable, can finance them independently into the age when they can be gainfully employed. Approval must be obtained from the CWA. For every additional child, progressive child taxes will be imposed along with the obligation to register.

If the global population drops under the possible maximum (or the optimum), then the basic provisions will be loosened or temporarily revoked entirely. Measures for promoting childbirth can be taken (e.g. subsidies for children),if the global population falls under that optimum.

Supplemental Measures

• Age-appropriate sex education and family planning instruction will be compulsory in schools starting at age 12.
• Sufficient contraceptives in different forms will be available to every person on Earth. Abortions for unwanted or illegal pregnancies will be free of charge and may only be carried out by professional physicians.
• Abortions carried out after a consultation with a physician should be possible essentially world-wide during the first three months of a pregnancy and free of criminal prosecution.
• Retirement age will be adjusted every three years as necessary.
• Every country will transfer a globally fixed percentage rate (e.g. 15%) of its tax revenues to a global fund for regulating births to finance the regulation of new births under the conditions named above.