World population day is on July 11th, marking the 30-yearanniversary of the observed day. Population day is recognized all over the world from India to Africa. Each year world population day brings awareness to the world’s increasing population and steps we can all take to help reduce the world’s population in a way that helps people around the world get the human rights they deserve.

This year, part of the focus will be on the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development and the goals that have yet to be achieved. The 1994 conference in Cairo focused on providing reproductive health and rights to the world, 179 countries agreed that it should be a priority. These countries understood that with an increased population, resources would become scarcer, and leading to possible societal collapse if left unaddressed. Since the conference, the population has greatly increased, and major problems are beginning to occur. At the same time, there has been significant positive progress. There are about 25% more contraceptives than before 1994, adolescent births are down, and the global maternal mortality rate has been reduced. There is clear progress while, at the same time, cause for concern. 

Currently the United States ranks 3rd for most populous country with 331 million. China has 1.38 billion people and India has 1.31 billion people. There people currently living who have seen their population nearly quadruple. In 1927, the world population reached 2 billion. The organization Population Matters advocates for a smaller population that is more sustainable for the planet. Humans currently add 1 billion people every 12-15 years, where there wasless than 1 billion until 1804. 

Various research has concluded that the earth could potentially handle significantly more people. In the early 1900’s many people were scared to reach 2 billion people. A major reason why we were able to grow our population so large was due to the industrial revolution and our ability to grow more food with less manpower. Technology allowed us to focus on other things instead of farming. Currently we are on track to hit 9.7 billion by 2050 and 11 billion by 2100. This kind of growth is possible only by changing the way we currently consume. Energy would need be renewable and we would need to pollute significantly less. By 2100 it is likely that we would already be out of oil, so renewable energy would be a necessity already. 

Population growth may not be catastrophic if we change our path now. It is clear that climate change will negatively affect future generations already, but how or how much is still uncertain. These challenges are difficult to manage with 7 billion people, so adding 4 more billion will certainly make our challenges much more problematic. 

Research is showing that the rate of population growth has been slowing since the 1960’s. This can be partially attributed to more access to birth control and also increased education around the world. It is likely that if we continue to educate and push women’s health issues, we could see a stabilization of the world’s population. It is critical for the environment to slow the growth of the world’s population. The best way this is achievable is to provide reproductive health and rights around the world. Doing this is better for women and reduces unwanted pregnancies, slowing population growth. 

Two things are clear on this world population day more than ever, we need to give everyone on this planet a way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and population growth is only possible if we reduce the environmental impact each person makes.