22 January 2015: The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) held a moderated discussion with experts on the state of scientific knowledge on some of the main substantive issues expected to be discussed during its 48th session. Several panelists outlined linkages between population and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Opening the meeting, organized by the Population Division in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) at the request of the CPD Bureau, and held on 22 January 2015, in New York, US, Bénédicte Frankinet, Chair of the Commission’s 48th session (Belgium), introduced noted that ‘Realizing the Future We Want: Integrating Population Issues Into Sustainable Development, including in the post-2015 development agenda’ will be the theme of CPD 48, which will take place 13-17 April 2015.

John Wilmoth, Director, Population Division/DESA, gave an overview of major population trends, considering, inter alia: population growth and national income, fertility, contraceptive use, life expectancy at birth, youth cohorts, international migrants, population growth and population behaviors. He said the most important driver of population growth is fertility, and that growth in carbon emissions has far outpaced world population growth. He called for working on technology and behaviors, such as consumption and production patterns, “given the certainty of population trends” and the projected increase in population in the coming years.

As part of the session on ‘Population dynamics, economic development, and poverty,’ Jocelyn Finlay, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, discussed the economic and health benefits of fertility decline. She said decline in fertility is linked to increased female labor force participation, increased savings, better opportunities in terms of health and education, and greater technological innovation.

Sajeda Amin, The Population Council, called for investing in adolescent girls through measures such as education, access to contraception, and providing workforce opportunities. She outlined the health and development benefits that can be generated by these investments, noting that “the price of not investing is high” as it can lead to early child birth, and higher risk of mortality, morbidity and gender-based violence.

Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue, Cornell University, focused on population and sustainable development, and noted that while there are many possible points of integration between these two issues, focus has only been placed on a limited subset. He remarked that economic inequality is rising worldwide, and that “growth does not guarantee equality.”

In the session on ‘Population, resources, the environment, and climate change,’ Lori Hunter, University of Colorado at Boulder, discussed the links between population dynamics and the SDGs, especially proposed Goal 11 (on cities and human settlements), Goal 13 (on climate change), Goal 15 (on ecosystems), Goal 16 (on peace and justice) and Goal 17 (on global partnerships). She emphasized that “much environmentally induced migration is internal,” or occurring within national boundaries, and called for global partnerships to be cross-sectoral.

Leiwan Jiang, National Center for Atmospheric Research, presented research on the integrated assessment of anthropogenic environmental change. He said population trends are at the center of concerns for achieving the SDGs, and called for investing in education and reproductive health.

Alex de Sherbinin, Columbia University, talked about population dynamics, the environment and climate change. He observed that at the macro-economic level, high population growth is associated with lower environmental performance index scores. He also noted that population dynamics are an integral part of understanding climate vulnerability and planning for adaptation, and that population growth may have greater impacts than climate change on resources and the environment.

During an interactive discussion, participants called for: considering the needs of elderly populations and providing safety nets, including public health insurances to support them; recognizing the important contribution of technology for achieving the SDGs; and taking into account the wide range of factors that motivate fertility decisions, including war and life threatening diseases in some countries. [Meeting Webpage] [CPD 48 Website] [IISD RS Sources]