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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Is Human Sperm Headed Towards Extinction?

John Elkington · 30 July 2017 · Leave a Comment

 
One of the questions I have often asked myself is whether I want to be right – or to be effective in driving change? Too often, things that I was talking about as risks decades back now prove to be emergent realities – like the story covered today in The Observer.

“it’s official: men’s sperm count is falling rapidly. Now scientists must tell us why.” That’s how the paper headlines Robin McKie’s article. And, sadly, this is an area I covered extensively way back in 1985 in my book for Viking/Penguin/Pelican, The Poisoned Womb: Human Reproduction in a Polluted World.

That was the book that poet Ted Hughes sent to Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister – and then wrote a poem about in his role as Poet Laureate. I could call that impact, but here we are with evidence that sperm counts in men in the West have more than halved in the past 40 years – and are continuing to fall at around 1.5% a year.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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