The human race.

Eric McGraw from Population Concern describes the volume of global population increase in the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century speaking amidst a teeming children's playground. Scenes of poverty and sick children underpin the context of the International Conference on Population held in Mexico City in 1984. He comments that rapid growth in population has dwarfed the progress made in technology and food production. HRH Queen Noor al Hussein of Jordan speaks at the conference. China is represented at the conference; their policy of one child per couple is discussed with Professor Wu Chien-Ping from the Academy of Medical Sciences, China. Chien-Ping talks about the system as being 'voluntary' and being based on education. India at the time was the next most populous country; Rajinder Kapoor from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India talks about the specific challenges faced by his country. He draws an interesting parrallel between fertility and the availability of electricity and transportation. In Kenya, the population has trebled in fifty years. With scenes in a baby clinic, The Hon. Mwai Kibaki, Vice-President of Kenya reveals that this is a consequence of the drop in infant mortality. To head off further increases, contraception is seen as key and delayed marriage. Mexico City, the population was increasing exponentially; estimates are that the population will reach 26 million. Manuel Bartlett Diaz, Minister of the Interior, Mexico, discusses the population policies. McGraw asks about whether the Catholic Church impedes access to contraception an issue which Diaz side-steps. A spokesman for the Church (HE Archbishop Jan Schotte, Vatican City) is clear that only natural methods of contraception are acceptable. Population is not just a problem in developing countries; at the time of the film a report by the European Union called for an increase in population. This is discussed (heatedly) by Christopher Jackson, Member of the European Parliament together with Leni Fischer, MP from West Germany. Fischer denies that the financial inducements offered to German families is to encourage more children. She says that the financial support is to ensure that families of two children are not disadvantaged. Erica Terpstra, MP, for the Netherlands also does not wish for a bigger population; likewise, Cecile Goldet, MP, France, supports the right for children. The situation in Sweden as described by Ingrid Sundberg, MP, Sweden, is that people would like more than one child. Eric Deakins, MP, United Kingdom is not supportive of a population increase; he believes that 14 million less in the population would be ideal. McGraw interviews HRH Prince Philip, President, Worldwide Fund who makes the connection between a rise in population and the pressure on wildlife due to pollution, encroachment of habitats and consumption of raw materials. He talks about the problem faced by a major dam built in Sri Lanka and its impact on wildlife.