Population Pressures : Newsfile
There are 176 documents in this section.
China's ecological footprint could cover the planet
9 August 2008
As the summer Olympics gives fresh evidence of China's sporting and economic prowess, a new report points out that if China were to follow the consumption patterns of the United States, it would demand the available biocapacity of the entire planet.
Africa's population is 'nearing biological limits'
15 July 2008
While Africa's per capita consumption is a very small part of the world's biological resources, growing population is bringing the region close to reaching it's ecological limits, according to a groundbreaking report from the Global Footprint Network.
UN appeal for family planning funds snubbed by USA
11 July 2008
On World Population Day, the United Nations has called for more funds for family planning to reduce maternal mortality and help fight inequality and poverty. But the US Government has announced it is to withhold family planning funds voted by Congress for the seventh successive year.
World Bank calls for more family planning
11 July 2008
A new World Bank report published for World Population Day (11 July) says that despite a huge increase in contraception globally, 51 million unintended pregnancies in developing countries occur every year to women not using contraception. Another 25 million pregnancies occur because women's contraception fails or they use a contraceptive incorrectly.
Environmental campaigner speaks out on population
20 June 2008
Jonathan Porritt, Director of Forum for the Future and Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, warns that unless more effort is put into family planning world populatiom will rise to unsustainable levels. It should be given a much higher priority in relation to spending on HIV and Aids, he says.
Damaged planet sees growing tide of refugees
20 June 2008
With climate change predicted to take the number of refugees worldwide to one billion by 2050, a new report says that more people are already displaced by environmental disasters than by war. The effects are falling disproportionately on developing countries in south Asia, the Middle East, central Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Satellite images show scale of environmental change in Africa
12 June 2008
New satellite imagery shows that Africa is losing more than four million hectares of forest every year, that some areas are losing over 50 metric tonnes of soil per hectare per year, and that erosion and chemical and physical damage have degraded about 65 per cent of the continent's farmlands.
UK is 70 per cent over-populated, report claims
22 May 2008
If the UK had to provide for itself from its own resources, it could support a population of only 17 million - 43 million less than its latest official population figure* according to research by a UK pressure group.
Africa's greatest challenge is to reduce fertility
12 May 2008
Two leading demographers, one in the Africa region of the World Bank in Washington, and the other at the Institute for Research in Development in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, have added their voices to the revival of concern over population growth in Africa.
Philippines heading for food and water overshoot
12 May 2008
Unless curbed, the population of the Philippines will grow to 100 million in five years even with the "low" population growth rate, according to former health secretary Alberto Romualdez, reflecting the new concern about the topic as food prices escalate.
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