Sustainability: Human race takes precedence over natural resources

The mantra of "reduce, reuse, and recycle" has long been the rallying cry of environmentalists seeking to preserve our planet’s natural resources and ensure availability of clean air, water, and arable land.

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But while protecting the environment and focusing on ecological sustainability would be commendable and necessary, it should not blind us to a looming crisis of greater importance: the sustainability of the human race itself.

Governments across the world have long feared the specter of overpopulation and its supposed impact on natural resources. Influenced by the Malthusian theory, which warned that unchecked population growth would outpace food production and resources, many countries have implemented aggressive population control measures.

China’s infamous one-child policy was a prime example of government intervention to control population growth. The policy now stands as a cautionary tale. China faces a rapidly aging population, a shrinking workforce, and the grim prospect of demographic collapse.

The infamous policy has resulted in China’s fertility rate falling below replacement level over the years to an all-time low of 1.28 children per couple in 2020, a far cry from the ideal level of “usually around 2.1 — one for each woman, one for her partner, and an extra 0.1 to counteract those that die as infants.”

Alarmed by the decreasing birth rate, China abandoned the one-child policy in 2015, allowing two children per couple, and raising it to three in 2021. To encourage couples to have more children, government granted tax deductions, housing subsidies, longer maternity leave, and other incentives.