World Population Day: We Shouldn’t Give Up on Slowing Population Growth

Just a few decades ago, slowing global population growth was an international policy priority. Nowadays, pundits and decision-makers are fretting about the fact that people are having smaller families – a development that, in the past, would have been heralded as welcome progress. But which side is right? — July 11 marks World Population Day, a day singing a light “on the urgency and importance of population issues,” and established by the United Nations in 1989. Back then, it was widely understood that sustained human population growth has the potential to outstrip available resources, cause ecological devastation, exacerbate poverty, and trigger social unrest and armed conflict. Yet today, World Population Day largely goes unmarked, even by the UN. Baby Bust Panic Reflects Infinite Growth Delusions The dominant population narrative now revolves around declining fertility rates (the number of births per woman), and the supposed threats these present to our economies. Little attention is given to the alarming fact that we are still adding roughly 70 million people (equivalent to the entire population of the United Kingdom) to the world every year, and are on course for a peak of more than 10 billion in the 2080s. While population aging – and, in some countries, decline – certainly brings new socioeconomic challenges, these are manageable with available social policy measures. More problematic is the fact that global fertility decline is not happening fast enough. At our current population size of 8.3 billion, all environmental health indicators are already in the red. We are facing catastrophic climate change and a sixth mass extinction, and are using natural resources almost twice as fast as the Earth can regenerate them. Every few years, we breach more planetary boundaries and have already transgressed seven of nine. Scientists agree that we are moving ever closer to catastrophic tipping points. The fact that our numbers are still rising is particularly alarming in light of per capita consumption of energy, food, and materials also trending upwards as more people rightfully escape poverty. Yet somehow, decision-makers are more worried about a hypothetical baby shortage. The dominance of “baby bust” media stories reveals that many people are still clinging to the dangerous delusion that infinite growth is both desirable and possible. A Powerful Sustainable Development Lever Continued global population growth also reflects stalled progress on women’s rights. When women have reproductive autonomy and prospects outside of full-time domestic work, they almost always choose to have smaller families. The countries with the highest fertility rates are generally those with the worst gender inequalities, where child marriage and teen births are still the norm. Alarming recent funding cuts to international family planning and gender equality initiatives, including by the United States, are exacerbating these issues, causing unnecessary suffering and preventable deaths, and could lead to more rapid population growth. Research shows that investing in women and girls is one of the most powerful sustainable development levers. Aside from slowing population growth (which is key to building climate resilience in the most vulnerable countries), ensuring that women can choose their family size, pursue education, enter the workforce, and participate in decision-making also increases countries’ wealth, leads to a higher number of environmental and health policies, and brings about more peace and security. The return on investment for family planning alone is impressive. More than 259 million women (224 million of whom are in developing countries) who wish to avoid pregnancy are not using modern contraceptives. Every $1 invested in addressing this unmet need and achieving universal access to reproductive health services could yield an estimated $120 in annual benefits over the long-term from the combination of reduced infant and maternal mortality and accelerated economic growth. Time to Act At a time when world leaders should be doubling down on empowering population solutions, they are tragically doing the opposite by slashing foreign aid. Many are also pursuing misguided pronatalist policies to try to encourage their citizens to have more children. According to the UN, 55 countries had policies aimed at raising fertility in 2021. The world may have gone silent about World Population Day, but we would be wise to remember the urgent issues and much-needed solutions it used to represent, which are more relevant now than ever before. This story is funded by readers like you Our non-profit newsroom provides climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Your one-off or monthly donations play a crucial role in supporting our operations, expanding our reach, and maintaining our editorial independence. About EO | Mission Statement | Impact & Reach | Write for us