Population - a sticky issue
Madeleine Bunting in the Guardian on Monday wrote a piece on population. Always a tricky debate, her main thrust was that the debate should enter the green mainstream, whereas currently it is seen as a marginalised issue (due to pressure from some quarters - Bunting cites the Pope and US pro-life factions).
A book which really helped me understand the issue of population was Jeffrey Sachs The End of Poverty. As well as the population question, it also sheds light on some economic situations in the past 20 years, such as India, China and Russia. A fascinating read (and might work better as a biography of Sachs work, as the poverty bit felt a bit forced and overly optimistic).
2.1 children per couple - that’s Sachs prescription…
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
Mel - you may like the follow up from Porrit http://www.jonathonporritt.com/pages/2007/09/bunting_and_population.html




Mel,
Just posted on population myself. Interesting words from new Science Museum Chris Rapley in this week’s Time Out in which he claims population is central to climate change.