ABSTRACT
One of the most confusing and contentious aspects of the population issue is the relative importance of population growth as a factor in sustainable development. This chapter explores the debate on the significance of population growth and the scope of population planning. Because population is usually seen as a problem for developing countries — where 95 per cent of the projected 3.2 billion growth in numbers by 2025 is expected to take place — the contribution of developed countries’ populations to environmental problems such as waste and pollution is sometimes overlooked. As long ago as 1984, at the International Population Conference in Mexico City, governments agreed that population and development problems should be tackled as closely interrelated ones. In terms of environmental impact, population is now more clearly seen as a multiplier of the interaction between consumption per person and the technologies to supply that consumption and dispose of the waste.
