In 2009 The Bixby Center co sponsored the Bixby Scientific Forum The World in 2050: A Scientific Investigation of the Impact of Global Population Changes on a Divided Planet. The results of the Bixby forum are published in a special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: The Impact of Population Growth on Tomorrow’s World, a publication of the Royal Society, London with a forward by former Bixby Chair Malcolm Potts.
The experts writing in this volume conclude that slowing population growth is essential if the world’s poor are to be lifted out of poverty, and if the next generations are to live in a biologically sustainable economy. Coming from many disciplines, the authors emphasize how the size, rate of growth and age structure of the human population interact with many other key factors, from environmental change – including atmospheric pollution – to conflict and the breakdown of governance. Fortunately, the assumption that people must become richer or better educated before they have fewer children is being replaced by a clearer understanding of the many barriers that separate women from the knowledge and technologies they need to manage the size of their family. When these barriers are removed, family size falls even in poor, illiterate communities. Conversely, as a result of lost attention to family planning since the 1990s, the projection for the population of several countries in 2050 has been raised (e.g. in Kenya from 54 to 83 million). Investment in family planning and education interact synergistically. It is therefore imperative that attention be given to the large and growing unmet need for family planning.
You can view webcasts of the presentations at
http://www.prb.org/Multimedia/Video/2009/worldin2050-day1.aspx
This issue can be accessed online at: Royal Society: Impact of Population Growth on Tomorrow’s World
The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society is the oldest scientific journal in the world. This is the journal where both Newton and Darwin published their findings. The Bixby Forum papers were published in volume 364 – there has been one volume every year since its founding in 1645.