Depopulation

The term 'depopulation' is regularly used by conspiracy theorists in reference to alleged secret criminal 'plans' by the 'elites' to reduce the world's population.

Many conspiracy commentators  subscribe to the notion of a sinister global depopulation plot, including Lyndon LaRouche, Alex Jones, Aaron Russo, Louis Farrakhan and Webster Tarpley. 

They claim that the ‘globalist oligarchy’—embodied by figures like Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, George Soros and Bill Gates—is using the pretext of an overpopulation crisis to carry out a eugenics project designed to rid the planet of its unnecessary population.

The destruction of part of the world's population could be achieved by means of a biological weapon manufactured in a laboratory (where it is claimed the AIDS and Covid-19 viruses were deliberately concocted) and used to trigger a pandemic. The scheme could also be put in place, claim conspiracists, under cover of vast vaccination campaigns, with the aim of mass poisoning. Sterilising people through water fluoridation, "chemtrails", pesticides and GMOs are also cited as possible means to achieve this diabolical goal. 

Agenda 21, an ‘action plan’ adopted in 1992 by 173 heads of state at the Rio Earth Summit, is regularly criticized by conspiracy theorists. The non-binding document, geared towards promoting sustainable development, lays out a set of recommendations to tackle overpopulation, pollution, poverty, and resource depletion.

Remarks made by Bill Gates in 2010 at a conference on carbon reduction have been distorted and used as pseudo-proof that the American billionaire openly declared his intention to reduce the world's population by 10 to 15% through vaccination. In reality, he was referring to a reduction in population growth.

Comments by primatologist Jane Goodall were also taken out of context to suggest that she was advocating a 90% reduction in the world's population.

In July 2023, a slip of the tongue from US Vice President Kamala Harris during a speech about investing in non-carbon energy raised eyebrows, as some interpreted it as an inadvertent admission of a plan to reduce the world's population.

(Last updated on 02/09/2024)