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鈥淭his is a time of rapid and multifaceted change in both population and the planet,鈥� said Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue, a member of the 鈥檚 working group and contributing author to the at a June 4 launch at the 乐鱼 体育. 鈥淭he question that the report is trying to address is whether we can actually envision a world in which we can of seven billion people, and .鈥� The Royal Society is a self-governing fellowship of scientists that fosters research to address pressing social issues and better inform policy on a global scale. Eloundou-Enyegue, also an associate professor of development sociology at Cornell University, was joined by fellow working group member and African Institute for Development Policy Director and Founder to discuss their assessment of growing population and consumption pressures on global wellbeing. Current Trends Are Unsustainable 鈥淭he current trends of global population growth and material consumption and the concomitant changes in the environment are unsustainable,鈥� said Zulu. On the population side, 鈥測ou have changes that are affecting not just the size, the growth of the population, but also changes in family structure, in the population distribution, [and] population movement,鈥� said Eloundou-Enyegue. On the consumption side, 鈥渂eyond the increase in consumption itself, there鈥檚 also a dramatic rise in aspiration,鈥� he continued. 鈥淧eople are in greater contact and this tends to encourage鈥n increasing aspiration to mimic or to emulate the consumption standard of the more industrialized countries.鈥� Limits to Equitable Growth When measuring consumption, which itself tends to be a misplaced barometer of wellbeing, according to Eloundou-Enyegue, there is a 鈥渄isproportionate focus on GDP.鈥� Using GDP growth as a measure of consumption and wellbeing both 鈥渕isses a lot of the economic production that鈥檚 not mediated through the market,鈥� and 鈥渃ounts as positive things that are damaging to the planet,鈥� he said. The report marks a departure from the traditional consumption framework by asking 鈥渁bout the relevance of growth 鈥� is growth what we ought to be after?鈥� 鈥淭he report tried to make a distinction between two types of consumption 鈥� the consumption of material resources and the consumption of goods and services 鈥� that are all relevant to wellbeing but have different implications for the environment,鈥� Eloundou-Enyegue said. 鈥淪o there is a need to think about how to shift or to favor consumption that is less damaging to the environment.鈥� Not an 鈥淓ither-Or鈥� Proposition There is 鈥渁 tendency to look at population and consumption when you鈥檙e addressing the impact of the environment in an either-or format, as if you had to choose either population as being the main culprit or consumption,鈥� said Eloundou-Enyegue. 鈥淭he reality is that they all .鈥� At the same time, there is 鈥渁 when you set development goals because they tend to be controversial,鈥� he said. And yet, said Zulu, 鈥渢here鈥檚 no question about it, the global population growth needs to be slowed down and ultimately stabilized for both people and the planet to flourish.鈥� The vast majority of future population growth is . Based on the , 70 percent of global population growth over the rest of the century will come from the continent. That projection, however, : 鈥渢hat the high fertility countries now will follow the same pattern in decline in fertility as the countries that have [already] achieved lower fertility had [in the past],鈥� said Zulu, which 鈥渕ay actually not be the case.鈥� 鈥淵ou might actually find a situation where fertility might stabilize around three to four children in some of the鈥east developed countries,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd if that happens, it means that actually we stand a much, much bigger chance of getting to the high variant [of 15.8 billion by 2100] than we often tend to assume.鈥� In spite of that dire warning, however, Zulu said that 鈥渨e should recognize that demography is not destiny, that through鈥ppropriate socioeconomic and health policies and investment, we can actually slow down population growth.鈥� The report concludes that voluntary and non-coercive 鈥渞eproductive health and family planning programs are urgently required,鈥� said Zulu. 鈥淭here is also a need for strong political leadership and financial commitment to make sure that these programs and services reach out to all women around the world who need them.鈥� Have We Missed the Boat Again? Part of the urgency from the working group is because, so far, commitments to reproductive health appear to be falling short. It is the international community鈥檚 responsibility 鈥渢o make sure that women have the contraceptives that they need in order to achieve their fertility aspirations,鈥� said Zulu, but some of the most important agenda-setting events in global development over the past 20 years have sidelined population, reproductive health, and family planning. The , for instance, 鈥渢ried to stay clear of population,鈥� said Eloundou-Enyegue, even though 鈥渁ll the indicators that I see are either intrinsically demographic or have a strong demographic component.鈥� 鈥淚f you think about stratification and the reproduction of inequality and poverty across generations and the role that differential fertility and reproduction plays, there鈥檚 no way you can sidestep population,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e talking about maternal mortality and child mortality鈥t doesn鈥檛 make sense to set population aside.鈥� Now, as the international community prepares for the upcoming , 鈥渢here鈥檚 been a big struggle to get鈥onsideration of population issues鈥� on the agenda, said Zulu. 鈥淧opulation is at the peripheral of all those discussions,鈥� said Zulu. When in Nairobi for a preparatory conference earlier this year, Zulu said UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin 鈥渢old me that he was quite alarmed that there was hardly any mention of population in all those discussions. And he asked me the question, 鈥榟ave we missed the boat again?鈥欌�� That concern reinforces the main argument of People and the Planet, said Zulu: there is an 鈥渦rgent need to reduce material consumption of the richest, and increase consumption and healthcare for the poorest 1.3 billion people.鈥� 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about having the majority of people in the world being able to flourish, being able to lead decent lives.鈥�