What?
Since the middle of the 20th Century, the world population has more than tripled in size, rising from around 2.5 billion in 1950 to almost 7.9 billion in 2021. Projections by the United Nations suggest that the global population could grow to almost 11 billion by the end of this century. A new report from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Global Population Growth and Sustainable Development, examines how rapid population growth adds to the challenges of achieving sustainable economic and social development on a healthy planet and magnifies the scale of the investments and efforts required to ensure that no one is left behind.To launch this report, UN DESA is hosting a Global Policy Dialogue event on “The Future of Population Growth,” bringing together experts to discuss the major themes of the report.
Why?
A path towards a more sustainable future requires demographic foresight, anticipating the nature and consequences of major population shifts and adopting forward-looking and proactive planning guided by such analysis. Global Population Growth and Sustainable Development is the first in a series of reports on major demographic trends being prepared. Subsequent reports will examine issues related to population ageing and international migration. The main purpose of the series is to provide reliable data, accessible information and analysis of population patterns and trends to help guide policymaking.
Who?
Speakers at the Global Policy Dialogue launch event and country where based:
- Ms. Deborah Balk (USA), Director of the Institute for Demographic Research, City University of New York
- Mr. Pierre Boileau (Kenya), Head of the Global Environment Outlook Programme, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- Mr. Alex Ezeh (USA),Professor of Global Health, Department of Community Health and Prevention, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, and member of the UN High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs
- Ms. Nyovani Janet Madise (Malawi), Director of Research and Development Policy and Head of the Malawi Office, African Institute for Development Policy, and member of the Independent Group of Scientists preparing the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report
- Ms. Clare Menozzi (ITA), Population Affairs Officer, Population Division, UN DESA
- Ms. Raya Muttarak (Austria), Director of Population, Environment and Sustainable Development, Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital
- Ms. Laura Rodríguez Wong (Brazil), Professor of Demography, Federal University of Minas Gerais
- Mr. John Wilmoth (USA), Director, Population Division, UN DESA
Speakers available for interviews in English:
- Ms. Clare Menozzi, Population Affairs Officer, Population Division, UN DESA
- Mr. John Wilmoth, Director, Population Division, UN DESA
Where and When?
The launch event, on Wednesday, 23 February 2022, from 8:30-10 a.m. EST, is free and open to the public. Translation into American Sign Language will be provided and captioning in the six UN languages will be available.
Online: On Zoom and on UN DESA’s Facebook page
Registration: https://bit.ly/dialogue23feb
Report website: https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/
Hashtags: #PeopleOfTomorrow #FutureOfTheWorld
Learn more about the Global Policy Dialogue Series: https://www.un.org/en/desa/policy-dialogue
Media Contacts
Sharon Birch, UN Department of Global Communications, T: +1 212-963-0564 /E:
birchs@un.org
Ariel Alexovich, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, T: +1 917-367-6512 /
E:ariel.alexovich@un.org