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Demographic dynamics and sustainability is the subject of Chapter
5 of Agenda 21. Demographics is not directly addressed in the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The growth of world population and production
combined with unsustainable consumption patterns places increasingly
severe stress on the life-supporting capacities of the earth. These
interactive processes affect the use of land, water, air, energy and
other resources. Rapidly growing cities, unless well-managed, face major
environmental problems. The increase in both the number and size of
cities calls for greater attention to issues of local government and
municipal management. The human dimensions are key elements to consider,
and they should be adequately taken into consideration in comprehensive
policies for sustainable development. Such policies should address the
linkages of demographic trends and factors, resource use, appropriate
technology dissemination and development.
There is a need to develop strategies to mitigate both the adverse
impacts on the environment of human activity and the adverse impact of
environmental change on human populations. The world’s population passed
6 billion in 2000 and is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050. Sixty percent of the
current population already lives in coastal zones, while sixty-five
percent of cities with populations above 2.5 million are located along
the world’s coasts, several of them already at or below the present
sea level.
Demographic dynamics and sustainability was discussed at the third
and fourth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the
nineteenth Special Session of the General Assembly. Population
projections and studies are done by the UN Population Division
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