Time to address the problem of world population growth

According to a recently published United Nations study there is an 80 per cent probability that by 2100 the world population will increase from 7.2 billion to between 9.6 and 12.3 billion. A considerable amount of this increase is expected to take place in Africa, with two billion babies being born during the next 35 years, doubling the continent's population.

At the same, according to the recent Living Planet Report by the World Wildlife Fund, wildlife populations have halved in the last 40 years. The report states that "the biggest recorded threat to biodiversity globally comes from the combined impacts of habitat loss and degradation, driven by unsustainable human consumption". Global greenhouse gas emissions are also predicted to hit record levels this year, with a rise of 2.5 per cent above 2013 levels. This comes on top of research that shows that on current trends  world food production will not be enough to meet the needs of our growing population.

Meanwhile the best that so called world leaders and economists can come up with is the notion of continued population growth as a means of  securing economic growth. You hear it all the time, their notion of pyramid selling."we have an ageing population, so lets increase it and hope we can deal with the problems of population growth at some time in the future." A pyramid scheme is best described as an unsustainable business model that promises participants payment or services, mainly for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Well following this line of thought in global economic terms will mean that there will not be a sustainable future. 

It is now clearer than ever that an alternative growth model has to be found. One that needs to take measures to control the explosion in population growth that is now being experienced. All that is on offer at the moment is destruction and lowering living standards. It is time to grasp the nettle and look towards developing a new economic plan. One that offers a long term perspective of sustainability and using the worlds valuable resources to eradicate poverty and save this planet.