Page 22 - PR COMMUNICATION AGE FEBRUARY 2016
P. 22
Sustained population growth, aggressive economic compe- critical. Resource challenges will intensify in areas where
tition and increased consumption will result in intensive population expansion has the greatest impact, relative to
exploitation and pressure on resources. It is important to local resources and economic growth.
know how to plan the population growth world over, be-
fore it will be too late to manage the flood of population Sub-Saharan Africa's population is likely to grow by 81 per-
causing enormous constrain on world resources. cent by 2035, 15 percent of which is likely to be under-nour-
ished (ibid.). Competition for resources of all kinds will in-
The Real Issue of Development tensify and the risk of humanitarian catastrophe will in-
crease, in most vulnerable regions, because of climatic
Urbanisation change.
Most people will live in cities. By 2035, 60 percent of the Environment
world population will live in urban areas. Most cities in de-
veloping countries already experience difficulties providing Population growth and human activity is placing unprec-
basic services such as transport and waste treatment. New edented and, some experts argue, unsustainable demands
urban residents will increasingly inhabit areas that defy on the natural environment. Increasing demand for natu-
nature, such as low-lying coastal regions, and will be at sig- ral resources, the intensification of agriculture, the produc-
nificant environmental risk. tion of hazardous waste, a rapidly growing and globalising
economy, and urbanisation, all contribute to environmen-
Changing Demographics tal degradation (DCDC, 2007). These changes may reduce
the fertility of, and access to, arable land, and affect air
Although the global population is currently very young (half quality.
of the world's people are below 28 years of age), the over-
all global population is ageing. Most are found in developed Climate Change
countries; however, a third of the developing country popu-
lation will be aged over 60 by 2050 and by 2050 nearly 80 Greenhouse gas emissions are expected to grow by 52 per-
percent of older people will live in developing countries cent by 2050 (Millennium Project, 2008a). Progressive cli-
(Millennium Project, 2008a). mate change will reduce land for habitation, as some re-
gions experience desertification and others permanent
Some developing regions and countries, on the other hand, flooding from rising sea levels (DCDC, 2007).
will witness an increasingly young population. Both trends
will mean a shrinking working population, significantly al- Regional weather patterns will be subject to change, with
tering the balance between economically active and inac- increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather
tive members. events, such as heat waves, droughts, storms and floods
(OECD, 2003; Millennium Project, 2008b).These changes will
Persistent International Migration affect projected food production as some regions will be
unable to grow current food staples. Furthermore, fish
The number of people living outside their country of origin stocks will diminish or migrate; and there will be increased
is likely to grow to 230 million from the current 175 million pressure on water supplies and associated industries .
by 2050. Migration will mostly occur between developing
countries and will increase in response to environmental Water
pressures, extreme poverty and natural disasters. These
factors will be aggravated by the consequences of climate Water is increasingly scarce. If current trends continue, 90
change, environmental changes, uneven distribution of percent of freshwater supplies will disappear by 2030 (OECD,
wealth, the effect of disease and the inability of authori- 2003). Already, 700 million people are facing water scar-
ties to respond. city. By 2025, this number could grow to 3 billion, with two-
thirds of the world's population facing water-shortages (Mil-
The availability and flow of energy, food and water will be lennium Project, 2008a; OECD, 2003).
“The next time you hear a social media myth, question it. Ask for the proof, and ask out loud.”
22 PR COMMUNICATION AGE February 2016
Copyright@ The Insurance Times. 09883398055 / 09883380339
