Empty Planet
The Shock of Global Population Decline
Lavin Exclusive Speaker
A smaller population has the potential to disrupt our world—for the better—says veteran journalist John Ibbitson. WIRED says that his most recent book, Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline provides “a radical new outlook on the human race and its implications for future societies.” Upending decades of conventional wisdom that overpopulation is an impending concern, Ibbitson’s talks offer a realistic and in-depth study of demographic shifts—with a hopeful plan for how we can change its shape if we choose to.
From the ways that our environments affect birth rates, to the negative and positive implications of a smaller global population, John Ibbitson, a Governor General’s Award-winning writer and speaker, addresses the most pressing global issues of the day. A #1 bestselling author and Writer at Large for The Globe and Mail, Ibbitson is a grounded and compelling voice who speaks to the most important factors influencing human life: declining populations, immigration, and the environment, and how how our work and lifestyles will be change in relation to this things. 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.