Am I Selfish for Wanting Kids in a Climate Crisis?

It was a semester ago in my Climate Change class that my Professor said the most controversial thing. Don’t have kids.

“If you want to know what’s the best way to fight climate change as an individual, is to not have kids.”

As overly dramatic as this may sound, I felt my heart drop and my dreams shattered. You see, ever since I was a child, I always wanted a kid or kids. Heck, I wanted so many to fill a football team. Their tiny toes and nice-smelling heads make my heart melt and can turn the worst day into something good.

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I dream of my little toddlers on tippy toes on step stools helping me make pancakes for breakfast on a Sunday morning. When they become teenagers, they make a name for themselves by being great human beings catalysing positive change in the world. As toxic as this sounds, I had their whole life planned out.

The science behind it

Having 1 fewer child will save 58.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year

A new study focused on the most effective ways an individual can cut their carbon emissions found that having one fewer child is the best option for the planet. The next best action is to get rid of your car, avoiding a roundtrip flight, followed by buying green energy.

What confuses me is how high-impact actions mentioned above are rarely advocated by our government and school textbooks. Common “green advice” like recycling and upgrading light bulbs proliferates the mainstream and is insignificant compared to those high-impact actions.

The individuals behind this study calculated the amount of emissions saved by having one less child, by totaling the emissions of the child and all their descendants, then dividing this total by the parent’s lifespan. Each parent was ascribed 50% of the child’s emissions, 25% of their grandchildren’s emissions, and so on.

What now?

More than a decade ago, the majority of individuals in a 2010 study about reasons why individuals choose to go childless cited that they are “Happy without children”. Other reasons include personal freedom, financial reasons, and being too old.

With a decade passing and the climate crisis an ever-growing concern for people all around the world, how much do you think has changed?

A recent 2022 survey published by pollster GlobeScan found that 4 in 10 people globally are not keen on bringing children into the world in a climate crisis. This is salient in Asia, where those from South Korea (59%), Hong Kong (53%), India (52%), and Thailand (51%) concur that they do not want to have children because of the effects of climate change. The study also found that those personally affected by climate change (44%) are more likely to avoid having children because of climate change as compared to those who are not affected by it (28%).

So, what’s your decision?

I know this is so personal, but I’m asking because I still don’t know what’s mine. Is it selfish to say that I love the planet as much as my unborn child(ren)? While the decision to have children is a private one, I can’t possibly ignore the implications of bringing a new life into this world.

Having children in a climate crisis means taking on the responsibility of raising a person in a world that is dealing with the repercussions of climate change. This could include extreme weather events, lack of access to clean water, and food shortages. It also means providing a safe, healthy, and secure environment for them to grow up in. While this may seem daunting, it is important to remember that raising children in a climate crisis is not impossible. Maybe just selfish.

Having kids is both a rational AND emotional decision. It’s a lot to wonder about and a lot to give up. Even if I’m reassuring myself that I will be raising children with a sense of environmental responsibility and activism, I must consider their futures as well. Will I be willing to ensure that I’ve managed to equip them to face the challenges that come with living in a climate crisis?

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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