The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) does not ignore the challenges we face as the global human population passes 7 billion, but does stress optimism in their 2011 State of the World Population (UNFPA, 2011). Positive thinking can be helpful, but the UNFPA is unfortunately stuck in the mindset of perpetual economic growth. We must acknowledge that global economic growth is inherently unsustainable if we are to understand the nature of the challenges we confront. Throughout the report there is the underlying assumption that economic growth is always the fundamental goal, even in industrialized nations. There is, however, a hint of the problem in the section on environmental issues tucked at the end. The problem, one expert notes, is not growing population but growing levels of consumption. Economic growth, if we fill in the dots, means an increase in consumption.
UNFPA, 2011. State of the World 2011, United Nations Population Fund, http://foweb.unfpa.org/SWP2011/reports/EN-SWOP2011-FINAL.pdf, accessed 31 October 2011.
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