MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World population crosses 8-billion threshold, UN says

More people living longer means additional responsibilities

According to an assessment from the United Nations (UN), the world's population Tuesday crossed the 8-billion-people threshold, which represented an “unprecedented growth” from the 2.5 billion humans living on Earth by 1950.

This achievement is the result of “a progressive increase in the length of life thanks to advances in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene, and medicine,” entailing an enormous challenge. According to UN data, the Earth had less than 1 billion inhabitants in the 19th century, but it took only 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion. It is also expected that it will take about 15 years to reach 9 billion by 2037 following the current demographic slowdown. The UN projects the population to reach its zenith of 10.4 billion people in the 2080s, which should be followed by stagnation until the end of this century.

In this scenario, the climate change COP27 conference, in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is once again showing the contrasts between the rich countries responsible for global warming, and the poor ones in need of financial assistance to transition to environment-friendly technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity.

“The 8-billion milestone brings important responsibilities, and highlights related challenges for social and economic development and environmental sustainability,” Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, U.N. assistant secretary-general for policy coordination and inter-agency affairs, had said at a UN press conference earlier this year. “Developed countries bear the greatest responsibility for implementing strategies to decouple human activity from environmental degradation,” Spatolisano also said.

According to the World Population Prospects 2022 report, released by the U.N. in July, migration is expected to account for the population growth in high-income countries, with 61 projected to decrease by 1 percent or more between now and 2050. In lower-income countries, population growth is expected to still be driven by more births than deaths.