8 billion people: the problem is not the population, the problem is the inequality.
In November 2022, the world’s population crossed 8 billion people, according to UNFPA’s 2023 state of the earth report (keep that in mind when next you hear someone say there are 7 billion people on Earth). I know that a popular narrative is to cast fears in the minds of the average person that 8 billion people living on the planet is too huge and is the cause of many problems we experience today.
The problem is the inequality. How is it that 50% of global lifestyle emissions are emitted by the richest 10% of the population and 90% of global emissions are by the richest 50% of our population?
I laugh at the recommendation of these few powerful folks that we must cut down the numbers and stop the population from increasing so fast – for the supposed good of our planet… and sadly, some of us are gradually being conditioned to buy this narrative and believe this propaganda which is far from the fact!
The truth is that this planet can accommodate 8 billion people and more – if we had a semblance of equality. The problem is not the population. The problem is the inequality. How is it that 50% of global lifestyle emissions are emitted by the richest 10% of the population and 90% of global emissions are by the richest 50% of our population?
The continued hunger and thirst of the richest to keep up with their consumption and lifestyle patterns are what we must question. Perhaps a note to many of us who are not in the class of the richest yet is that we must also question our ‘must-have’, ‘must-buy’ drive, knowing that this is eating into the earth’s resources like never before.
we must also question our ‘must-have’, ‘must-buy’ drive, knowing that this is eating into the earth’s resources like never before.
Did Mahatma Gandhi see this three-quarter of a century ago when he said that: “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed”???
