Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our planet is heading towards a global sustainability crisis caused by a convergence of human actions, all of which impact on each other. Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, diminishing resources, pandemics, global wars and now artificial intelligence are individually and collectively raising anxiety and creating a worrying uncertainty about humanity's future.

Climate change is already taking its toll on the environment, on human lives and on economies. July was the hottest month on record, and this year we have seen devastating heatwaves across Mediterranean countries, North America, China and South-East Asia; out-of-control fires in Canada, Europe and Hawaii; and destructive rains in India, Korea, Japan and China. Meanwhile, the loss of biodiversity and the extinction of living species, all of which are essential for a healthy planet, are reaching critical levels. The air, land and oceans are becoming increasingly polluted and even poisoned. Food shortages, often caused by climate change effects, are all too common. As I speak, nearly one billion people live with severe food shortage. Uncontrolled land-clearing continues, with 64 per cent of tropical rainforest, the lungs of the earth, now having disappeared or being under threat. Wars and internal conflicts, mostly arising from control of scarce resources, are elevating international security fears. Depleted fish stocks in the ocean are causing international friction. I can recall here in Australia a decade ago having to ban supertrawlers because of their destructive effects.

The common denominator in all of those matters is rapid global population growth. In the past 70 years, the global population has increased from 2.5 billion to nearly eight billion. It is projected to increase by around another 25 per cent, to over 10 billion, in the next half-century. Population growth, more than any other contributing factor, adds to the difficulty of reaching climate change emission targets. However, population growth is encouraged by powerful global corporates, who profit from increased consumption. It is also supported by those governments who rely on population growth to grow their GDP in an effort to salvage their sinking economies. Population and economic growth always put more demand on our already stressed planet.

Climate change and environmental degradation, both frequent topics of public discussion, are symptoms of an unsustainable population, yet global discussions about climate change continue to ignore population impacts. In the communique at the end of COP27 last year in Egypt, I found nothing about population growth. It is puzzling why sustainable population discussions get no traction. There are some views that the global population will likely plateau in around 50 years and then maybe begin to fall. That seems like a reasonable prediction, based on current trends. However, in the interim, if the current environmental trajectories continue, there is a real risk that environmental and climate change tipping points will be reached and irreversible damage will be done.

Regrettably, as the population grows, so too do inequality, human trafficking, slavery, child exploitation, refugee numbers, mass migration and even pandemics, all in turn adding to demands on government and leading to a life of misery for more people. Interestingly, there are now calls for an Earth system treaty to manage the existential threats to civilisation. Global overpopulation is at the core of those threats, and, as with climate change, the issue requires a global response. Also as with climate change, as each year of inaction passes, the problems magnify, and future generations are left to deal with the multiple difficulties they have inherited because of the failures of today's leaders. Sensible, sustainable population policy is possible, and it should be a priority on the global agenda.