Recent data suggests that human activities are causing significant changes to our beloved Earth. However, it is worth noting that many countries in Asia, Europe, and other regions are experiencing low birth rates. This trend indicates a potential decrease in the world population in the future.
Do you believe this could contribute to the long-term sustainability of the Earth?
Dear Mr. Ali:
Some researchers at the beggining of the sustainability debates stressed this idea (e.g., the Population Bomb of Paul and Anne Ehrlich), focusing the demographic debate as one of the central points (Ehrlich and Ehrlich, 1968) in the famous IPAT debate (Ehrlich and Holdren, 1971). Many authors considered this debate disregarded the complexity of social estructures, and put the burden of the problem on the poor. In fact, World3 model of the MIT-Limits to Growth study (Meadows et al. 1972) seemed to suggest that the decline of population was one of the issues associated to the scenarios of unlimited economic growth, not the cause.
Following the idea that demographic dynamics and social behaviour are complex, since not all the people has the same standard of living, I believe that the problem cannot be just reduced to a geneal decrease in population.
For example, not all the people accounts for the same responsability in the degradation of ecosystems. Here, in Western countries, one person accounts for more energy and materials consumption than one in other countries of the Global South (There are a lot of works accounting for the social metabolism in different countries), so the environmental consequences associated are higher.
In the case of a global population reduction, it is not the same if this reduction will arrive in the Global South, where the standard of living of the people is relatively low, or in the Global North, where the standar of living is higher. Also, the people from the Global South needs more resources to reduce hunger or poverty, to increase health, etc.
This is a complex issue, but an interesting question.
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