Sunday 30 January, 09.00 – 10.00, 2011
“Action is also needed on the population “cluster bombs” that will see a world populated by 7 billion people by the end of this year and possibly 9 billion people by 2050. Those 3 billion babies will be born in some of the world’s poorest places. Virtually all of the 60 countries with annual population growth rates of 2% or more are low-income and middle-income economies.
Human ingenuity and technological progress had rescued the world when population numbers doubled in the last century and productivity kept pace with the growth. A world with 9 billion people, however, will be a more serious problem because it coincides with rising expectations about standards of living.
Everyone will want to have a big house and a car, travel and enjoy the appurtenances of modern life, yet the planet’s finite resources cannot sustain those demands. On the other hand, if population growth is slowed by education and empowerment of women, for example, what would have been spent on those 3 billion babies can be used on the basics of inclusive growth such as health, education and gender equality.
Policy-makers are beginning to pay more attention to prevention, and this is as it should be. The emphasis should shift from treatment and care to childhood vaccination, exclusive breast feeding and all the way to chronic diseases, which are estimated to affect up to 60% of the global population.
Yet another policy priority is the rise of technology and its effect on how people and institutions relate and communicate with one another. Young people no longer read newspapers or long reports, for example, yet they remain well-informed. Institutions should learn to communicate with them through such routes as social media and smart-phone apps.”
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