Getting a handle on population growth

SIR – Next week the world’s population will top eight billion. Twice as many people live on our planet than in 1974. And the population is four times higher than it was in 1926.

By 2050 the world could lose more than a quarter of its forests to food production alone in order to feed the growing population.

That amounts to some one billion hectares – 1.5 times the size of the Amazon.

Population growth is also a critical driver of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggests that GDP growth per capita and population growth remained the strongest drivers of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion during the past decade.

Yet solutions exist that are friendly to both people and the planet. These include enabling all girls to stay in school and empowering women to access contraception, meaning that they can choose how many children to have.

Despite cutting more carbon than all offshore and onshore wind power combined, these desperately wanted, positive solutions are rarely mentioned by climate campaigners. Robin Maynard

Director, Population Matters London SE1