8 Billion Angels Parent Guide

“This is a planet of finite resources and we’re using them up. That’s going to mean so much suffering in the future.”

“Our lifestyles are an existential threat for the poorest people on the planet.”

“What is the next generation going to think of us if we trash the planet for them?”

Scared yet? If you’re not already concerned about the environment, the first two-thirds of 8 Billion Angels will have you in a state of near-total panic. This documentary begins with an examination of the unfolding ecological catastrophe in the earth’s oceans, looking at how rising greenhouse gases are acidifying the oceans, bleaching coral, and devastating fish stocks. Then the film moves on to agriculture, specifically the challenges posed by irrigation. Although irrigation increases crop yields in the short and medium term, over the long term it is draining underground water tables, with droughts the inevitable future result. In addition, the fertilizers that also boost harvests damage surface water. The challenges facing surface waterways are examined in even more detail in India, where Delhi’s Yamuna river runs black and flammable from all the pollution and waste poured into its sacred currents.

Director Victor Velle and the experts who are interviewed during the film assert that the common thread underlying all of these environmental threats is earth’s burgeoning population. In the space of a generation, from 1960 to 2020, global numbers have more than doubled, from 3 million to almost 8 billion. As all the earth’s people seek dignity, economic stability, and comfort their demands for food, electricity, and clean water will continue to strain the earth’s resources.

“The last thing to come out of Pandora’s box was hope. It’s the first thing I have every morning when I get up.”

Thankfully, 8 Billion Angelsisn’t all doom and gloom. It comes with a heaping serving of hope, in the shape of suggestions to fix the problem. Its emphasis on female education, healthcare, and autonomy is sure to be welcomed by almost all viewers. One expert’s suggestion that parents should justify their decision to have children will likely be less appreciated, particularly by people with large families.

This documentary’s greatest contribution is not in its environmental warnings – which are familiar to anyone who has been watching nature-focused documentaries in the past few years. Its biggest selling feature is its emphasis on the divergence between those who cause most of the greenhouse gas emissions and those who suffer the most dire effects of climate change and economic degradation. When the film points out that one American child has the same environmental costs as 40 Bangladeshi children, it makes viewers take a hard look at their own consumption patterns. This can make 8 Billion Angels a useful tool for prompting serious discussions with teenagers – both about what they think about environmental stressors and what they plan to do about it. After all, as one of the experts in the film reminds us, “Action is the antidote to despair.”