Population Change and Its Impact on the Environment, Society and Economy
A special issue of World (ISSN 2673-4060).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 177055
Special Issue Editors
Interests: demographic change; environment and development interactions
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
A world with eight billion humans is an unprecedented global phenomenon with profound implications for environmental stability, biodiversity, human societies, and political economies. Yet, the nature and extent of these implications is highly contentious, both in public debate and the scientific literature. Even more contentious is the question of what, if anything, should be done in response. The false assumption that interventions are inherently antagonistic rather than synergistic for enhancing the reproductive health and rights of women has rendered the topic almost taboo in the ecological and development literature. Some demographers are already focused on population contraction and ageing as emerging challenges for this century. Yet, the anticipation of peak humanity might seem premature as the many challenges of accommodating eight to twelve billion people while enduring climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss remain daunting.
What is at stake for high-fertility countries whose future population might be between two and five times its current level, depending on the steps taken in the next decade? Should low-fertility countries seek to boost birth rates or is an older age profile a small price to pay for lessening future resource constraints and greenhouse gas emissions? In both situations, economic, political and environmental considerations are too rarely considered in tandem.
This Special Issue aims to collate perspectives from a range of disciplines and geographic zones on the interactions between environmental, social, and economic impacts of population change. The volume particularly aims to examine potential policies that might be implemented to address population change and their likely impacts, seeking to build a more holistic understanding of policy options.
In this Special Issue, we encourage the submission of original research articles, reviews, case studies, conceptual papers, and short communications targeting any of the above areas. Topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- The relationship between population growth and challenges to development, including food and water security, economic betterment, social stability, and governance;
- The contribution of population growth to the deterioration of any environmental attribute or planetary boundary, at a local, regional, or global scale;
- Analysing causal influences between demographic change and its potential drivers and/or impacts;
- Effects of population policy interventions on demographic change and/or other areas of impact such as health, gender equity, fiscal sustainability or political stability;
- Challenges and benefits of population decline;
- Resource depletion and/or pollution and the implications for Earth's carrying capacity.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Jane Nancy O'Sullivan
Dr. Céline Delacroix
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. World is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- population growth
- demographic change
- family planning
- reproductive health
- contraception
- demographic dividend
- resource limits
- overpopulation
- earth overshoot
- biodiversity
- food security
- water security
- energy security
- planetary boundaries
- ecological footprint
- climate change adaptation and mitigation
- environmental sustainability
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