Empty Planet
The Shock of Global Population Decline
Lavin Exclusive Speaker
For half a century, we’ve been told that overpopulation will ravage our resources and permanently alter the way we live. But is it true? Veteran journalist John Ibbitson tells a different story; one in which our global population is headed for a steep decline, rather than increase. In his bestselling book Empty Planet, Ibbitson and his co-author Darrell Bricker outline both the drawbacks and benefits of a smaller population. It’s a radically different vision of the future, and one we’ll need to prepare for. Ibbitson shows businesses and governments how to swiftly adapt to the enormous disruption.
A #1 bestselling author and Writer-at-Large for The Globe and Mail, John Ibbitson is a grounded and compelling voice who speaks to the most important factors influencing human life: declining populations, immigration, the environment, and how our work and lifestyles will change in relation to these factors. In his optimistic, scrupulously researched talks, Ibbitson shows us how to position ourselves to successfully navigate these coming demographic shifts—with an openness that is more critical to our survival than ever.
In a career spanning three decades, Ibbitson has worked as a reporter and columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, Southam News, the National Post, and, since 1999, The Globe and Mail. He also served as the Globe’s Queen’s Park bureau chief, Washington bureau chief and Ottawa bureau chief, becoming Chief Political Writer in 2012 and Writer at Large in 2015. His career of covering, analyzing, and commenting on Canadian and American politics is unmatched by any other journalist. Ibbitson’s previous book, Stephen Harper: A Biography, is an unsparing insider’s look at how Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister changed the nation, for better and for worse. It was a finalist for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and winner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
His previous book, The Big Shift: The Seismic Change in Canadian Politics, Business, and Culture and What It Means for Our Future (co-authored with Darrell Bricker), is a national bestseller. His other books include Promised Land: Inside the Mike Harris Revolution, Open & Shut: Why America Has Barack Obama and Canada Has Stephen Harper, The Polite Revolution: Perfecting the Canadian Dream, and Loyal No More: Ontario’s Struggle for a Separate Destiny. Ibbitson’s novel, The Landing, won the Governor General’s Award for Best Children’s Book in 2008. In 2014, while on leave from The Globe writing Stephen Harper: A Biography, he served as a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.