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Category: UN
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Major UN report highlights overpopulation and overconsumption, need for profound transformation
A major new review of the state of the environment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides a comprehensive and refreshingly honest exploration of the root drivers of environmental degradation, and stresses the urgent need to overhaul how we live on this planet. by Olivia Nater, originally published by Population Connection The 7th edition…
16 comments on Major UN report highlights overpopulation and overconsumption, need for profound transformation -
The Carl Wahren papers are now available at Sweden’s National Archives
The Overpopulation Project has been ranked as one of the 10 best demography blogs of 2025 by FeedSpot. Thank you to all our readers for engaging with and sharing our work. For researchers working on historical population issues and interested lay persons, the Carl Wahren papers are a gold mine. See examples below, described by…
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The imminence (or otherwise) of depopulation
Whether you see a peak and decline of world population as a good thing or a bad thing, lots of people are speculating that it is imminent. Can we believe them? Jane O’Sullivan According to the most recent United Nations projections, the world population will peak sixty years from now at around 10.3 billion. Lately,…
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A primer on economic growth and biodiversity for COP16
Many readers will be familiar with the good work of CASSE: the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Here its executive director reminds us of the need to end growth if we hope to preserve biodiversity, a recurring theme at TOP (see here, here and here). by Brian Czech With the core…
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Thirty years is too long to turn a blind eye to world population growth
September 13 marks thirty years since the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo effectively denounced population stabilisation as a development goal. The consequences have been disastrous. by Jane O’Sullivan The United Nations Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in September 1994 profoundly shifted the UN’s approach to…
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World population revised upwards again
On 11 July, the United Nations published its new population estimates and projections. While trumpeting the promise of a lower global peak as “a hopeful sign [for] reduced environmental pressures” in the press release, they don’t mention there are now 43 million more people than they anticipated as recently as 2022. Not such a hopeful…
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UN World Population Day 2024 focuses on anything but world population
This year for World Population Day, the United Nations champions data collection, because ‘everyone counts’. What they choose not to measure is more telling. by Jane O’Sullivan This World Population Day, we see the UNFPA celebrating 30 years of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action. Yes, it’s been 30 years…
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New State of the World Population report conceals family planning as UNFPA’s most successful product
Thirty years ago, the Population Fund of the United Nations (UNFPA) started drifting away from its original objectives focused on reducing population growth. Its new State of the World Population Report illustrates how this drift undermines its mission to help the world’s poor. by Jan van Weeren and Jane O’Sullivan This year’s State of the…
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The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) at 30 – Let’s Address the Unfinished Agenda
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, a watershed event in international population and reproductive health policy. It’s a good time to reflect on its legacy. by Joseph Speidel and Jane N. O’Sullivan The ICPD Programme of Action (POA) has served as a…
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The United Nations Population Fund Promotes Population Denial
Humanity heading for 9 billion and the UN’s chief population organization says forget about numbers. What’s going on? by Madeline Weld November 15, 2022. That’s the day the world population reached 8 billion, according to the UNFPA, the United Nations organization whose original raison d’être was to help end population growth. The UNFPA (reflecting its…
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Delusional population projections lead us sleepwalking into catastrophe
Recent United Nations population projections paint a comforting picture of immanent population stabilization. But what if they are wrong? Global population growth does not appear to be slowing as quickly as UN demographers have predicted, making widespread famines and run-away climate change more likely in the coming decades. By Jane O’Sullivan The Elon Musks of…
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Walk the talk: the world needs more Gretas and fewer Leonardos
People in rich countries must rein in their consumption, but the hypocrisy of high-profile environment advocates makes them poor role models, argues Gaia Baracetti. By Gaia Baracetti This is an overpopulation blog, but its authors have made it clear that overconsumption is a problem too, and that the two are, as it is often said,…
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More population neglect from the United Nations
The UN’s latest State of the World Population 2023 report deepens its denouncement of population concerns. While it commendably emphasizes women’s reproductive rights, it neglects the role an excessive and growing population plays in driving global ecological degradation and overlooks the many ways overpopulation can undermine poor people’s rights to safety and security. by Jan…
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The imaginary world of Earth4All’s low population projections
A new report from Earth4All says world population will peak below 9 billion. While it celebrates this result and says we must work to get it even lower, this unrealistically low projection itself is likely to have the opposite effect. by Jane O’Sullivan Last week a consortium under the name of Earth4All published new population…
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World population is growing faster than we thought
We’ve all heard the aphorism ‘Lies, damned lies and statistics.’ Statistics are an invaluable tool for understanding and responding appropriately to the world, but when the numbers say one thing and the headlines say another, it’s a cause for concern. TOP takes a dive into World Population Prospects 2022. by Jane O’Sullivan The world’s population…
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3 Women, 2 Countries, 1 Voice for World Population Day 2022
For those times when we feel worn down by the thanklessness of campaigning for population sustainability, it can be uplifting to hear the voices of veteran campaigners whose courage has never wavered. Michael Bayliss introduces us to a conversation to inspire. by Michael Bayliss In the most recent episode of Post-Growth Australia Podcast (PGAP) I…
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The United Nations celebrates World Population Day by shaming population ‘alarmists’
Not content with omitting overpopulation concerns from its own rhetoric, in its World Population Day statement the UNFPA has gone on the attack, labelling all concerns about the numbers of humans ‘alarmist’. Jane O’Sullivan takes them to task. By Jane O’Sullivan The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was created in 1969 to act on the…
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Population commitments under the Paris climate accord
Under the Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the nations of the world have made pledges known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). These represent countries’ proposals to adapt to and mitigate (limit) global warming. A new publication assesses the NDCs’ treatment of population growth and family planning. by The Overpopulation…
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Pro-natalism: The role of the Vatican
Those of us who care about overpopulation need to pay far more attention to the powerful pro-natalists who are coaching or instructing people to have more children. Religion is obviously a big factor, although not the only one, and there has been much coverage of evangelical Christians. Much less has been written about the Catholic…
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Glasgow follies
This coming weekend, representatives from 196 nations will gather in Glasgow for the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. Failure is assured, since addressing the fundamental causes of climate change isn’t on the agenda and all proposed national commitments are voluntary, with no penalties for not living up…
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Top scientists call for new UN sustainable development goal on population
A group of distinguished scientists have called for rapid action to reverse unsustainable population growth as threats to global ecological boundaries become more apparent. The evidence was set out at an online conference organised by Scientists Warning Europe to mark this year’s World Population Day. by Brian McGavin With the human ecological footprint already 170…
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IPCC and IPBES Ignore Overpopulation Again
In a new report, a joint workshop convened by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services warned that the climate and biodiversity crises need to be tackled in tandem. Among their hundreds of suggestions for doing so, however, proposals to end population growth were nowhere to be…
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From bodily autonomy back to family planning
In its recent report State of World Population 2021 the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) highlights bodily autonomy as a universal right. Of course, nobody in a civilised society would object against this position. However, by limiting the notion to the domain of gender-based violence and harmful practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation,…
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New television show dedicated to population debuts
After months in the works, a new television program devoted to exploring all aspects of the population / environment connection is now streaming free on demand. Dallas-based EarthX TV hosts The Population Factor, whose first episode features an interview with environmental legend Paul Ehrlich. Two other episodes follow: one about the challenges of limiting climate…
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Rights and responsibilities in population policy
A robust account of human responsibility, applied to humanity’s economic and demographic decisions, is the missing link in environmentalists’ endeavors to save our planet. Contemporary humanity has been misled by promises of rights without responsibilities, win/win solutions, and individual success without discipline or concern for the common good. “Back to basics” should be our battle…
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Do countries consider population growth in their national plans to tackle climate change under the Paris Agreement? A new working paper from TOP
According to the IPCC, economic growth and increasing human populations are the two main drivers of global climate disruption. However, to date only efficiency improvements and technological changes have been seriously considered to meet the goals of the UNFCC’s Paris Agreement. In a new study, we examine how the parties to the agreement dealt with…
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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals depends on reducing birth rates faster
With ten years left to go, the international community must break its silence and tackle population growth directly if the UN’s SDGs are ever to be realised. Creating a better world, with security and opportunity for all, cannot occur in a context of continued rapid population growth. by Robin Maynard To celebrate World Population Day the environmental…
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The Missing SDG – what should be added?
This past week, TOP researchers Patrícia Dérer and Jenna Dodson organized a successful seminar focused on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. As part of Act Sustainable! Week at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), participants enthusiastically discussed five potential additions to the SDGs: air quality, democratic governments, harmful chemicals, ocean…
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Goal to limit population growth can help achieve SDGs
The commentary, “The World and the UN Must Reduce Population Growth,” published two weeks before the 2019 Summit on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, urges global leaders and the UN to acknowledge increasing global population as a serious issue and take action to reduce population growth. By The Overpopulation Project A commentary by TOP project…
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