I conclude with a brief assessment of the impact of fertility decline on population trends.
The second part discusses options available to governments in the less developed countries (LDCs) to slow rapid population growth by investing in reproductive health programmes to assist women in avoiding unplanned pregnancies. First, demographic trends and projections for the world and its main regions will be summarized. But in practice there is no doubt that this projected growth will do substantial further harm. In theory, the human impact on nature can be offset by reducing per capita consumption of natural resources especially in the rich world and by developing green technology. The expansion is expected to continue in future decades reaching 10.9 billion in 2100 1. This tripling of population size has had wide-ranging adverse consequences for human welfare and the natural environment. The world population grew at an historically unprecedented pace from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 7.8 billion in 2020.
