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 leader Frank Götmark and Robin Maynard, Director of Population Matters, describing the need for an additional Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to “dampen population growth,” was published by Project Syndicate on Tuesday for worldwide distribution.

The timely commentary, “The World and the UN Must Reduce Population Growth,” was released just two weeks before the 2019 SDG Summit, to draw attention to continued rapid global population growth and encourage summit attendees to give this matter due consideration.

Signed by 13 scientists and professionals from 14 countries, the commentary summarizes recent and future population trends and related effects, demonstrating how population growth undermines most of the SDGs’ targets. Despite increasing public attention to the matter, in recent decades the UN has largely ignored the serious problem of population growth.

The upcoming summit, September 24 and 25, is the first United Nations summit on the SDGs since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September, 2015. Recent reports show that overall, progress towards achieving the SDGs has been slow or in some cases even reversed. At the upcoming summit, while following up and reviewing progress towards achieving the SGDs, heads of state should recognize that an 18th SDG to slow population growth could help save the 2030 Agenda.