If we don’t change, we and our planet all go down together

Next Tuesday, our planet reaches a significant milestone: a total population of eight billion humans. And, not unexpectedly, the doomsayers are telling us spiralling numbers are going to choke the earth to death.

Not so, says United Nations Population Fund chief Natalia Kanem. “The sheer number of human lives is not a cause for fear.”

The upside of the growth population is that it shows improved medical and social conditions, which have brought about an increase in life expectancy and fewer maternal and child deaths. Yet, undoubtedly, the more humans there are, the more pressure there will be on the finite resources of this place we call home.

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We would need the biocapacity of 1.75 earths to sustainably meet the needs of the current population, according to the Global Footprint Network and WWF NGOs.

The most recent UN climate report mentions population growth as one of the main drivers of an increase in greenhouse gases. But, experts say that instead of focusing on rising numbers and the need for birth control, we should concentrate on the overconsumption of our scarce resources by the minority of wealthier people, who live mainly in the industrialised northern hemisphere.

The climate change crisis is a good example. Countries in Europe and North America are hellbent on saving the planet by buying electric cars … yet the manufacturing processes for these and their associated systems are depleting natural resources, such as copper, at an alarming rate and contributing markedly to greenhouse gas emissions. Yet their cities and office blocks remain brightly lit at night.

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What is needed is a fundamental rethink about what we need, not only to survive but to be happy and content. Wealthier people need to ask themselves if conspicuous consumption will bring that happiness. If we don’t change, however, we and our planet all go down together.