We are already 8 billion... but the problem is consumption,

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Data from the United Nations ( UN ) have revealed that there are already 8 billion people, a milestone in human development. And as is often the case, heated debates have arisen about the so-called "carrying capacity" of the planet, that is, the number of individuals of a species that can live in a given environment sustainably , according to The Conversation . The figure represents an occasion to celebrate diversity and progress at the same time, but it is also a call for humanity's shared responsibility for environmental care, said UN Secretary General António Guterres . Sustainable planet for all people According to experts, the discussion about the planet's capacity has particularly taken two aspects. There are those who argue that we need to drastically reduce the human population to avoid an ecological catastrophe. And then there are those who believe that technology will find smart solutions without needing to actively address the problem that there are already 8 billion of us. Scholars have been debating these demographic issues since at least the 18th century, when British economist Thomas Malthus published an essay on the principle of population , possibly the first treatise to discuss the relationship between population growth, scarcity of resources and, therefore, a progressive decrease in birth rates.

However, a few decades later, the Industrial Revolution (which the British economist had failed to anticipate) ushered the world into an era of abundance, relegating Malthus's gloomy predictions Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Email List about the inevitability of scarcity to the margins of scientific debate. Natural resources are finite However, the growth in birth rates and the ability to meet present needs without affecting those of future generations has been a constant concern. In the late 1960s, Stanford professor Paul Ehrlich revisited the topic in his book The Population Bomb (1968), and argued for immediate action to limit population growth on a finite planet. His recommendation was reiterated a few years later by the Club of Rome, an international network of scientists and industrialists. In their 1972 report The Limits to Growth they aptly demonstrated the dynamic relationship between rising consumption and the idea of ​​“planetary limits” that cannot be crossed without risking severe environmental change.



Basically, the concept of planetary boundaries presents a conceptual framework that evaluates the state of 9 processes fundamental to the stability of the Earth system and suggests a series of thresholds for these processes that, if exceeded, can endanger habitability. The objective of the study was to define a “safe performance space for human development” that could be used by governments and societies at all levels. The problem is not that there are already 8 billion of us... it is consumption While there is little doubt that the human race has breached planetary boundaries, currently exceeding safe operating space in at least six of the nine domains, this analysis often seems to overlook that living standards even in small communities , lead to serious ecological impacts. It is difficult to estimate how many humans the planet can sustainably tolerate, while policies appear to be guided more by the argument that global population growth will slow as soon as continents such as Asia and Africa reach levels of development similar to those of Europe and North America. . But there is a fallacy regarding the above.