Whose future? Whose world?

Abstract

Nehru said at India's independence that humanity would be following the course of destiny. That destiny will be threatened by lack of fresh water and soil deficit and populous countries such as China (2.5 children per woman), India (4.0), Indonesia (3.1), Brazil (3.3), Pakistan (5.9), Bangladesh (4.6), and Nigeria (6.0). There is hope in having available, safe, effective, and reversible contraceptive technology for meeting the needs of the world's 100 million women who do not wish any more children and are not now using any method of fertility control. Delegates at various Population Summits have repeatedly suggested that hope for lower population size was gained by increasing education among the population, increasing educational opportunity for women, and reducing poverty. Women were reportedly 33% of the global labor force but were recipients of 10% of the global income, were responsible for 66% of hours worked, and owned under 1% of the world's property. Scientists must improve upon the failed advice of economists that development was the best contraceptive. Governments must fund solutions, because of the debt owed to those less affluent who have been exploited in the past. At the 1993 New Delhi Population Summit, 56 scientific academies agreed that a stable world population must be achieved as part of the solution to social, economic, and environmental problems of the world. Zero population growth must be achieved within one generation. Developing countries were caught in a poverty trap. In 1992, the British Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences agreed that catastrophe would result if the developing world continued to strive to achieve the same living standards with the same consumption levels of the developed world. There must be a balance in the distribution of resources and demands on resources. Global projections of population suggested a total world population of over 10 billion by 2050. There was a grave question as to whether life support systems could sustain the changes and size of this force.