The UN's International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22nd, themed as 'Harmony with nature and sustainable development' demonstrates complete ignorance of two basic facts, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).
"Firstly, like all living creatures, humans are very much a part of nature and are the driving force for declining diversity of life on the planet" says SPA Spokesperson Michael Bayliss. "Secondly, sustainable development is an oxymoron as unlimited growth on a planet with finite resources is impossible.
"In a 2017 'Scientists' Warning to Humanity', 15,364 researchers cautioned that rapid population growth is a 'primary driver' behind many ecological and even social threats" says Mr Bayliss.
Their notice cautioned that 'by failing to adequately limit population growth . . . humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our imperilled biosphere.'
One casualty of an ever-expanding human population has been the ocean's fish stocks, according to the SPA National President, Peter Strachan. "85% of global fisheries have been fished out or are in catastrophic, terminal decline.
"All six of the world's most pressing ecological challenges: deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and resultant climate change, biodiversity loss, fishery depletion, water scarcity, and soil degradation, are driven by the impacts of ever-expanding human population numbers" says Mr Strachan.
"While some claim that global population growth is slowing down, this simply isn't true. For example, it has only taken 12 years for our population to increase by another one billion, to our current population of 8.2 billion.
"Rapid population pressures contribute to massive food insecurity, with one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa still facing hunger or routinely suffering from insufficient calories" says Mr Strachan. "In most future scenarios that include population growth, food shortages are expected to intensify by 2050".
Since the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, the global environmental movement has shied away from addressing the cause of biodiversity loss, according to Mr Strachan. "Instead, they focus on symptoms, like climate change, air, water, light and noise pollution and an accelerating pace of plant and animal extinctions.
"In a world where 45% of pregnancies are unplanned, this blindness to cause and effect, reduces focus on the need for universal access to family planning" says Mr Strachan.
"Recently the impact of demographic pressures has been associated with a host of other social maladies, from psychological stress, depression and violence to traffic congestion and disease."
According to current research, 'overpopulation causes substantial and potentially irreversible environmental impacts that cannot be ignored if international sustainability policy is to be effective.' Only by seriously addressing overpopulation will humanity have a chance of regaining harmony with nature, according to Mr Bayliss. "This means global access to family planning and reproductive health services. In countries such as Australia, migration must stop being used as a tool in order to prop up GDP."
