UNFPA to Release State of World Population Report

Environment and Population: Story Idea Click here for a complete list of events in the United States. Click here for a complete list of events around the world. Data from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): People and Atmosphere Population, Waste, and Chemicals UNFPA's State of the World Report 2001 Projected Water Scarcity by 2025 Roadmap to the 2002 Earth Summit Earth Summit 2002 Online Debate Background information on the Earth Summits

Oct 31 - Next Wednesday, November 7, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will release The State of World Population 2001 – Footprints and Milestones: Population and Environmental Change. Each year, UNFPA’s State of World Population (SWOP) report focuses on the central issues and concerns related to population and development. This year’s focus on population and the environment offers a unique opportunity to illuminate more clearly the linkages between demographic change, development, pollution and resource consumption.

The SWOP report was originally scheduled to be released on September 26th, but was postponed in light of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon in Washington.

The report will pick up on several key issues that have emerged in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, including basic human rights and opportunities for women, efforts to encourage global stability and efforts to eradicate poverty around the world. The report underscores the important role that population and environmental trends will play in shaping the world of the future.

The SWOP report is also timely in relation to upcoming events on the international calendar. In September, 2002, the international community will gather in Johannesburg for its once-every-10 year meeting on the environment and development. The Johannesburg meeting will take stock of progress made in the 10-years since the historic UN Conference on Environment and Development, the “Earth Summit” held in Rio de Janeiro in June, 1992. The 2001 SWOP report’s environmental focus will help to frame discussions of population-environment dynamics at RIO+10.

The 2001 SWOP report provides a cogent overview of population and development issues. Noting that the “footprints of humanity are impossible to miss,” the report makes the case that the size of population coupled with resource consumption makes humanity a global force for change. The report provides a comprehensive overview of key environmental trends – from water use and food security to habitat destruction and global warming. It also explores key environmental health issues and the close relationship between women and the environment. The central challenge of the future, the SWOP report asserts, is to harness human ingenuity in order to enhance quality of life for all and to protect the basic environmental systems upon which we depend for life. Special attention is given to the relationship between saving women’s lives and protecting the environment. A concluding chapter gives a comprehensive overview of the key international agreements on health and the environment that can be implemented to encourage a more peaceful, prosperous and environmentally-sound future.

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