1. From 6 Billion to 7 Billion: How Population Growth is Challenging Our World
A Presentation by Robert J. Walker
President of the Population Institute

2. It’s Not How Many People the World Can Contain…..

3. It’s How Many People the Earth Can Sustain….

4. And at What Standard of Living….

5. In the 20th Century World Population Rose from 1. 6 Billion to 6
In the 20th Century World Population Rose from 1.6 Billion to 6.0 Billion

6. Life Expectancy at Birth More than Doubled in the 20th Century

7. The World’s Per Capita GDP Soared in the 20th Century
Measured in constant 2000 dollars, the world’s per capital GDP grew from:
$850 in 1900
$8175 in 2000

8. The World at 6 Billion

9. It’s a Rapidly Changing World

10. The World at 7 Billion: What’s changed?

11. Millennium Development Goals

12. The Prices of Most Food Commodities have Nearly Doubled

13. Fuel and Non-Fuel Commodity Prices Have Soared.

14. Oil Prices ( )

15. Conventional Crude Oil Production has Peaked
In its 2010 World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Administration projected that crude oil output would reach “an undulating plateau” of around mb/d by 2020, but it would never again regain “its all-time peak of 70 mb/d reached in 2006.”

16. The Historic Decline in Metal Prices has Been Reversed

17. Tin Prices ( )

18. Iron Ore ( )

19. Cotton Prices ( )

20. The Ranks of the Hungry have Increased

21. Fossil Fuel and Cement CO2 Emissions (Source: Global Carbon Project)
Growth rate
1% per year
3.1% per year
2010
5.9% yr
2009
-1.3% per year
Uncertainty (6-10%) + -

22. Population Projections for 2050 are Rising
Medium Variant Population Projection: Source: UN Population Division
1999 Projection: 8.9 billion
2011 Projection: 9.3 billion

23. No Global “Birth Dearth”
In 1999: Max Singer of the Hudson Institute wrote: “50 years from now the world’s population will be declining, with no end in sight.”
T0day: The latest UN projections show world population is rising with no end in sight:
9.3 billion by (medium variant projection)
10.0 billion by 2082 (medium variant projection)
Possibly as high as 15.6 billion by 2100 (high variaent projection)

24. Age Distribution of the World’s Population
Population Structures by Age and Sex, 2005
Millions
Less Developed Regions
More Developed Regions
Age
0-4
Male
Female
Male
Female
Sex and age distributions show that less developed countries have significantly younger populations than more developed countries.
Almost one-third of the population in less developed countries is under age 15. In contrast, less than one-fifth of the population in more developed countries is under 15.
Today there are more than 2 billion young people below age 20 in less developed regions—the age cohort that will soon become the world’s newest group of parents.
Young age structures in the less developed countries are due mainly to higher levels of childbearing in recent decades.
Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision, 2005.

25. The Decline in Adolescent Pregnancy Rates has Stalled
Number of Births per 1,000 Women (ages 15-19)in the Least Developed Countries: Source: UN Population Division 2010 Revision
1990:
2000:
2007:

26. High Adolescent Pregnancy Rates
Reasons:
Growth of the adolescent population
Decline in family planning assistance
Lack of access to contraceptives
Limited contraceptive choices
Lack of comprehensive sex education
Status of women and girls
Sexual coercion and abuse
Child marriage

27. Child Marriage
“82 million girls in developing countries who are now between the ages of 10 and 17 will be married before their 18th birthday.” UNFPA

28. 2050: the Challenges Posed by Population Growth

29. Hunger There are 950 million hungry people in the world today.
The Food and Agriculture Organization says world food production will need to increase by 70 percent to keep up with population and more meat-intensive diets.
Food production in the developing world will have to double just to keep up with population.

30. Severe Poverty
Rising food prices are pushing people into poverty. The urban poor spend percent of their budget on food.
In 2010 alone, rising food prices pushed 44 million people into severe poverty.
Oxfam International warns that food prices could rise by percent by 2030.

31. Urban Slums
The size of the urban population in the developing world is growing faster than the general population.
In 1990, there were an estimated 657 million people living in urban slums. Today there are 828 million.

32. Water Scarcity
Water shortages have already reached crisis proportions in Western Asia and North Africa.
Demand for Water is expected to outstrip supply by 40 percent within the next 20 years.

33. Sanitation
Very little progress has been made in improving sanitation in the developing world.
Half of the population in the developing world is not using an improved form of sanitation. That’s 2.5 billion people.

34. Shortages of Arable Land
Agricultural areas have expanded by only five percent since the 1970s, and the capacity for further conversion is limited.
Much of the potentially arable land that remains is forest.
Biofuels are competing with food producers for arable land.
We are in the midst of a worldwide “land grab” by foreign interests in the developing world.

35. Loss of topsoil
The FAO estimates that by 2030, 135 million people may lose their land as result of soil degradation, including 60 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.
Desertification is a major threat to China’s food production.

36. Rising Energy Prices
No one knows how energy producers will meet the world’s growing demand for energy. We will need almost 50 percent more energy by 2030.
Rising energy prices are increasing the cost of producing and transporting food.

37. Deforestation
The rate of deforestation slowed in the past decade, but there are signs that rate of deforestation may be increasing again.
The world’s rising demand for lumber, palm oil, and soybeans is largely responsible.

38. Rising Temperatures
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that was the hottest decade on record.
Rising temperatures will curtail crop production in many areas by percent.
Rising seas will inundate many rice producing areas in South and Southeast Asia.

39. Severe Weather
Unless drastic steps are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the world will suffer some of the worst effects of climate change.
Climate change experts believe that climate change will result in:
Intensified Droughts
Intensified Flooding
Intensified Storms

40. Oceans
The annual marine fish catch peaked in 1996 at million tons and it has been declining ever since. In 2008 it was 79.5 million tons.
Ninety percent of all large fish populations have disappeared.
Coral reefs are endangered.

41. Loss of Biodiversity
Despite the Convention on Biological Diversity, the rate of plant and animal extinction is accelerating.
Scientists warns that human activity is causing the “Sixth Mass Extinction.”

42. Failing States The number of failing states is on the rise.
While several factors account for the increase infailing states, virtually all failing states have high fertility rates that make it more difficult to reduce hunger and poverty.
Of the 20 countries that rank highest on the 2011 Failed States Index, all but one have a total fertility rate in excess of More than half have a TFR of 5.0 or higher.

43. Will the 21st Century Vindicate Thomas Malthus?

44. 1.8 billion
7 billion
8.1 billion
10.9 billion
9.3 billion

45. Changing Atttitudes and Behaviors through Mass Media
Population Media Center uses radio serial dramas (soap operas) to change atttitudes and behaviors:
Violence against women
Child marriage
Family planning and reproductive health

46. Delaying Age of Marriage through Economic Incentives
Population Council: Berhane Hewan (“Light of Eve”) project in Amhara region of Ethiopia
Girls meet regularly to acquire life-time health skills.
Girls who complete the program receive a financial reward for completion (e.g. a goat).

47. 8.1 Billion in 2050—How did we get there?
We invested more in youth and adolescents
Girls were able to delay their age of marriage
Girls were able to stay in school longer
Attitudes toward girls and women improved
Boys and men treated girls and women with respect

48. 8.1 billion in 2050—How did we get there?
Men and women, husbands and wives, actually talked about sex and childbearing
Girls and women were empowered
Modern contraceptives were widely available
Women had a range of contraceptives to choose from, and
Couples had children by choice, not by chance.

49. 8.1 Billion in 2050: What would it mean?
Universal access to reproductive health services became a reality, not just a right.
Maternal mortality fell sharply.
The number of women dying of unsafe abortions declined sharply.
More mothers lived long enough to see their children and their grandchildren grow up.
Many obstetric fistulas were prevented, and those that were not could be treated.

50. 8.1 Billion in 2050: What would it mean?
The battle against HIV/AIDS and STIs was won.
The level of educational attainment went up, and the rate of poverty went down.
Full gender equality was achieved.
Food security was enhanced. Fewer people went hungry…or starved.
Water scarcity became more manageable.

51. 8.1 Billion in 2050: What would it mean?
The gap between energy supply and the essential energy needs of the world was narrowed.
The threat of conflict was, correspondingly, diminished.
Income disparities declined. The gap between North and South narrowed.
Deforestation was slowed, perhaps halted.

52. 8.1 Billion in 2050: What would it mean?
Climate change was mitigated and prospects for adapting to climate change improved.
More plants and animals survived threatened extinction.
We met—or began to meet--the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.