Statement of the ‘Population Summit’ of the World's Scientific Academies, held in New Delhi, India, during 24 to 27 October 1993

Abstract

Representatives of national academies of science from throughout the world met in New Delhi, India, from 24 to 27 October 1993, in a ‘Science Summit’ on World Population. The conference grew out of two earlier meetings—one of the Royal Society of London and the United States National Academy of Sciences, and the other being an international conference organized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Statements published by both groups expressed a sense of urgent concern about the expansion of the world's population and concluded that if current predictions of population growth prove accurate and patterns of human activity on the planet remain unchanged, science and technology may not be able to prevent irreversible degradation of the natural environment and continued poverty for much of the world.