The link between population growth and biodiversity loss | Population

George Monbiot’s article (The UK government didn’t want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I’m not surprised, January 27) highlights the serious risks identified in the UK government report Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security. However, it overlooks a key factor highlighted in the report: population growth is a major indirect driver of global biodiversity loss. “As the world’s population increases, reaching 9.7 billion people by 2050, the impact of food production on natural systems will intensify and it will become even more difficult to produce enough food sustainably,” it says.

The massive expansion of agriculture, driven by global population growth, risks sacrificing sustainability: forests are cleared for farmland, pesticides pollute waterways, and ecosystems are pushed beyond recovery, accelerating biodiversity loss. It’s a concern echoed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has identified population growth and GDP per capita as the main drivers of carbon emissions.

We must end the taboo of debating population growth and address its underlying causes. Currently, there are 121 million unintended pregnancies each year, and globally, only one in 10 women feel capable of making decisions about contraceptive use. By tackling the drivers of global population growth, we also curb the growing demand for food production, thereby solving one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. Additionally, it is critical that more people adopt a plant-based diet, as livestock farming takes up more than three-quarters of agricultural land and produces twice as many emissions as agriculture.

The UK Government must act urgently on the findings of its own report by addressing the causes and effects of global population growth and unsustainable consumption patterns as interlinked challenges. Biodiversity loss cannot be ignored, as it poses an existential risk to geopolitical security and any hope for a peaceful and sustainable future.
Amy Jankiewicz
CEOPopulation issues