Population perspectives and sustainable development

• Published in: Sustainable development (Bradford, West Yorkshire, England) West Yorkshire, England), 2000-08, Vol.8 (3), p.135-141
• Main Author: Rajeswar, Jonnalagadda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affluence; Colonialism; Deforestation; Developing countries; Earth; Ecology; Energy; Environmental impact; LDCs; Life support systems; Population growth; Rainforests; Starvation; Sustainable development
• ISSN: 0968-0802; 1099-1719
• DOI: 10.1002/1099-1719(200008)8:3<135::AID-SD138>3.0.CO;2-K

Neo‐Malthusianism advocates ‘population control’ as the solution to all major global problems. While overpopulation is a serious problem, blaming the population growth in the South as the prime cause for the destruction of the environment is hypocritical. Rather than the ‘bottom billion’, it is the ‘top billion’ population from the ‘affluent’ West – and their ‘effluence’ – that is inflicting greater environmental injury to the earth. In the patriarchal system of free‐market economy, aborigines and women are marked inferior. Given the strong preference for male children in many Third World countries, the statistics on ‘ missing girls’ explain the sad situation of female infanticide and underreporting of female births. Most contraceptive research is aimed at women only. Furthermore, newly developed contraceptives would be first tested on poor women of colour, often without their knowledge or consent. However, after the 1994 Cairo Population Conference, reproductive rights and empowerment of women are recognized as key issues in controlling population growth. There must be a radical change and paradigm shift in policy‐making at every level from subjugation and subordination to partnership in order to solve most of the world's problems. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment