Enterprising Solutions Needed For A Growing Population
The world’s population reached seven billion in recent months and is predicted to grow to eight billion by 2024.
These facts may seem unrelated to our day-to-day lives but the truth is that such population growth is already affecting us.
Much of the additional growth will happen in poorer countries, as fertility rates remain high and life expectancy increases.
The growing population coupled with the desire of billions of people to move out of poverty will put further demands on the world’s resources.
The traditional approach taken by wealthy countries to economic development over the centuries is no longer sustainable.
The way forward is challenging and will require enterprising solutions, as the world’s available resources are being exhausted.
The challenge raises the question of how to accommodate such a growing population while improving the quality of life of so many people.
A starting point lies in the knowledge that the growth of the world’s population has concerned people for the last two hundred years or so. For instance:
– there have been many previous predictions about how the population would grow faster than our ability to cope
– increased life expectancy and the spread of good medical practice around the world has reduced the numbers of people dying
– the success of science in relation to the provision of food through better yields from crops has increased outputs
– the issue of declining fertility rates in many countries means the population is those areas has already begun to decline
– the current estimates are that while the population will continue to increase in the mid-term, it will level off or fall in the second half of the century
So, as the number of people in the world continues to rise we will have to find increasingly enterprising solutions to meet our needs.
What do you think? Do you an enterprising solution? Get in touch!
If you have any comments contact Nick on 028 8224 9494 or via Twitter @nick_oec.
