PSN co-authors population and climate change paper
10 June 2010
Source: PSN
An article co-authored by PSN’s Karen Newman on the links between population dynamics and climate change has been published in the Journal of Public Health.
In northern Cameroon, due to climate change women are having to walk further to fetch water.
Credit: UN Photo/A Rozberg
A major global health threat
The article, entitled Population dynamics and climate change: what are the links? warns that climate change is likely to present the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.
World population is projected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050, with most of this growth in developing countries. While the principal cause of climate change is high consumption in the developed countries, its impact will be greatest on people in the developing world.
Population – climate change links
Climate change and population can be linked through adaptation (reducing vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change) and, more controversially, through mitigation (reducing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change), the article explains.
The contribution of low-income, high-fertility countries to global carbon emissions has been negligible to date, but is increasing with the economic development that they need to reduce poverty. Rapid population growth endangers human development, provision of basic services and poverty eradication and weakens the capacity of poor communities to adapt to climate change.
Significant mass migration is likely to occur in response to climate change and should be regarded as a legitimate response to the effects of climate change.
A sensitive but critical issue
While acknowledging that linking population dynamics with climate change is a sensitive issue, the author’s advocate for family planning programmes that respect and protect human rights, which they state can bring a remarkable range of benefits.
The article concludes that population dynamics have not been integrated systematically into climate change science, and that the contribution of population growth, migration, urbanization, ageing and household composition to mitigation and adaptation programmes needs urgent investigation.
Read the article
The article, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Public Health, was a collaborative project, written by Judith Stephenson of UCL, PSN’s Karen Newman, and Susannah Mayhew of LSHTM and PSN Board Member.
The article is available in the Resources section.