Population Growth: Understanding Global Change
Recently, the world population touched the eight billion mark, as per a United Nations report. On the other side, world leaders are deliberating the issues like climate change, unemployment, carbon emission and food security but have not thrown a little light on the persistent growth of the population.
However, there are different schools of thought, one considers population growth as the expansion of human resources across the world while the other takes it as the cause of every other problem.
No matter whether it is a positive or negative demographic sign for the world but it is completely the responsibility of established authorities to address the constantly increasing numbers or make a way out of it to utilise the increasing world population as a resource.
Population Foundation of India is one nonprofit organisation founded by a group of industrialists under the leadership of the late JRD Tata and Dr Bharat Ram in the decade of 1970s which advocates for suitable policies and programs to intensify the capabilities of the human population in India.
In conversation with BW Businessworld, Knowledge Management and Core Grants of Population Foundation of India, Alok Vajpeyi unfurl different layers of population growth and suggests measures to treat this expanding headcount across the world.
1. Why Population growth is not counted as one of the issues among world leaders on the global platform like G-20?
Population growth is stabilising across the world. Yes, absolute numbers have been increasing in many countries due to the large young population. But the population will stabilize in those countries in years to come. There is no reason for population control as the world has seen the negative consequences of coercive measures, such as one child/two-child policy in China. It is prudent for G-20 countries to not get into discourse or action for population control.
2. Should it be a matter of world concern as we touched the 8 billion number as per the UN Report?
As said above, population growth has slowed down across the world. The UN report stated that the global population is growing at its slowest pace since 1950, having fallen under 1 per cent in 2020. While it took 12 years for the world population to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years – until 2037 – to reach 9 billion.
A study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, Seattle, published in The Lancet (July 14, 2020) indicates that the global population is projected to peak in 2064 at 9·7 billion people and decline to 8·7 billion in 2100.
India is also projected to have a continued steep decline in total fertility rate which will reach 1·3 along with a total population of 1.1 billion in 2100. India is expected to reach its peak population of 1.6 billion by 2048. There is no reason for concern.
3. When we discuss all the matters related to growing heads around the world e.g carbon emissions, food security and sustainable growth, why is population growth kept aside?
We must stop creating the false dichotomy between population and “limited resources.” A skilled population is a strength, and we must see people as creators of resources. Our obsession with numbers needs to end and we need to start thinking of our population as people, in line with the principles of equality and equity. We must also broaden our view of the multidimensional relationship between the population and the planet.
Global evidence shows that a small portion of the world's people use most of the earth's resources and produce most of its greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past 25 years, the richest 10 per cent of the global population has been responsible for more than half of all carbon emissions.
Limiting unsustainable patterns of production and consumption will be essential to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement's goals of limiting global temperature rise.
4. What do you think, the UN saw as the positive side of population growth?
The UN is presenting the facts which tell that there is no need for population control. The countries can do better by investing in appropriate development interventions and strategies, geared towards education, provision of quality family planning services and issues of gender equity and economic development of women.
In addition, targeted social and behaviour change communication strategies are needed to address barriers to women’s agency and reproductive autonomy. We must empower our women to be able to decide when and how many children to have.
The countries must invest in girls’ education, particularly ensuring that all girls complete secondary school education. Global evidence suggests that this helps girls to delay marriage and pregnancy.
A girl with some secondary education is about six times less likely to be married as a child than a girl with only primary education or less as per research.
Women’s empowerment and a more gender-equitable environment will help women to complete their education and enter the labour force. Women’s empowerment is often inversely correlated with fertility rates
