Rich getting richer but it’s the poor who get the blame

Human population will peak at 10.4 billion in the 2080s but experts are divided if this will make the climate crisis worse

- SAPHORA SMITH

The world population reached an estimated 8 billion people yesterday, raising questions about what this milestone means for the planet and our efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The landmark comes as countries meet at the Cop27 summit in Egypt in a bid to make progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and efforts to better prepare for a warming planet.

The United Nations has said that population growth and GDP per capita remain the strongest drivers” of greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels in the past decade. And some point out that over the past 50 years, the world’s population has doubled, while global wildlife populations have plummeted by nearly 70 per cent.

Those who advocate slowing global population growth to help fight the climate crisis say growing populations will only make it more difficult for the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit biodiversity loss.

“The simple version is that the more people there are, the more we consume, and the more emissions and other waste that we produce,” said Alistair Currie, head of campaigns at UK-based charity Population Matters. Increased consumption leads to more demand for water and land and consequently impacts nature, he added.

The charity, which counts Sir David Attenborough and Dame Jane Goodall among its patrons, said in a recent report that in the past half-century, as the world’s population doubled, carbon emissions jumped from 17 billion tonnes per year in 1974 to 36 billion tonnes per year in 2021.