ABSTRACT
Development is all about people, and a chapter on population is a must in any book of this type, which examines current issues and debates in the complex field of development. Population and development have been linked so often that one is now often regarded as the mirror image of the other. It is often assumed that high population growth rates means underdevelopment and environmental degradation, implying a clear cause-effect relationship in the minds of many. Indeed, in an opening speech at the Rio Earth Summit, Maurice Strong, the Secretary-General of the Summit, highlighted the “explosive increase in population” as a major environmental hazard. However, although population is mentioned in many of the Rio declarations, increases in the world’s population was not tackled directly as a central element. Early drafts of the Agenda 21 document did propose linking poverty, overconsumption of resources in rich countries, and rapid population increases in the Third World, but some Northern governments did not like the inclusion of overconsumption. As a response, several developing countries refused to allow discussion of population control at Rio. The preference instead was to leave such discussions until the Cairo Population Summit of 1994.
