Answers to the Future – Population Growth

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FIW Bonn Event Series – A Changing World

Answers to the Future – Population Growth

2018-11-05 FIW, Population Growth

Ongoing population growth provokes a series of questions about its key drivers such as gender inequality and low educational standards, validity of current private and public sector economic development instruments, and the role new means such as social media and digitization can play in achieving 2030 Agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – experts weight in as part of FIW Bonn’s 5th edition of ‘A Changing World’ event series.

 

Speakers

Moderator

 

From MDGs to SDGs

The evolution from the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) marked a shift in the Global North’s approach on how to interact with the Global South and understanding of how global socio-ecological problems come about and ways to possibly ameliorate them, as Renate Bähr and Oliver Haas described at the beginning of the panel discussion. For the SDGs to be effective and to “better” the world overall, Michael Herrmann explains that fundamental democratic questions in relation to future population growth as an amplifier of current problems need to be answered en route to Agenda 2030’s realization.

Are SDGs Population Growth inclusive?

Prof. Wolfgang Lutz agrees and calls attention to population growth with only four mentions within the SDGs and their goals and indicators as an underrepresented key issue endangering overburdening the carrier capacity of several global and local socio-ecological systems. Within SDG 4 “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, the opportunity to mention a reduction of birth rate by means of realizing higher educational standards, which could be especially effective in countries and regions with currently low standard in global comparison such as in Africa, is left out too.

SDG 5 – Gender Equality

As Renate Bähr explains, in regard to SDG 5 – gender equality, empowering women can be a key component to reducing population growth, as they are, as is known, the one of the two sexes giving birth and in, again, Africa [no specific region or countries were mentioned] two out of three pregnancies are unwanted/ unplanned by women right now.

SDG 4 – Education

Next to topic-related knowledge – sex education and family planning -, improving educational standards can have indirect effects on the reduction of population growth due to increased income levels and associated social security independent of the quantity of children within the family. Prof. Wolfgang Lutz further emphasized the link between focusing on educating women as a means of conveying socio-economic autonomy independent of family and the right of self-determination in regard to family planning but also remarked that change takes time, especially for generation-based socio-cultural developments.

Within the scope of SDG 4 – Education, Prof. Lutz also pleads for emphasizing early childhood education in all countries, given that during those early years permanent personal development characteristics are developed that are decisive for future health and attainable education levels.

Privat Sector Investments in Development Cooperations

Michael Herrmann sees opportunities for private investments in development cooperation to complement public economic and social promotion if they are targeted towards sustainable initiatives and projects; but only if they are based on long-term sustainable thinking and development, and help the beneficiaries to attain independence and become equal partners, Prof. Lutz amends. He gives the example of providing training and instructions in operating and maintaining water treatment plants independently once installed, tying back in with education as a pivotal factor for achieving sustainable development. Investments into projects that deal with symptoms in order to make profit and miss out on addressing broader underlying developments would indeed rather jeopardize Agenda 2030’s long-term sustainable goals, Michael Herrmann agrees.

Open Q&A

Men, politics and the wider socio-cultural system involved with realizing SDG 5 – Gender Equality

Social challenges always require looking at and addressing society as a whole, for eliminating gender inequality, this means empowering woman and making men their allies, Renate Bähr explains.

The government, however, also plays a crucial role in social development processes and ought to take the lead in supporting voluntary birth control and education campaigns if they want to achieve sustainable population growth.

Digitization & Social Media

For mainstreaming sustainable development in the thinking and doing of a population, readily available and used social media platforms can be utilized for marketing/ reach-out initiatives. Innovations coming forth out of the ongoing digitization which are often unique, ingenious and fit for purpose, environment and use in their respective geographical region can be subsidized by government funds if they leverage of sustainability principles in their production, function or resource use.

Time & Change

 – Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lutz

Systemic and Systematic Change

SDGs may display goal-setting features as key strategy for achieving stakeholder commitment and giving orientation, however, they are no development strategy in and of themselves, Michael Herrmann emphasized.

Breaking down silos, and establishing cross-level and cross-scale integration within development cooperation still bears potential for better addressing problems and finding solutions that can only be found together given their intertwining and mutual interference, Renate Bähr explained.

Grassroot Initiatives/ Power, (Self-)Empowerment & Responsibility

What’s central in the discussion of achieving sustainable development and realizing Agenda 2030, according to Oliver Haas, is empowering people to take on the responsibility to develop solutions together with others to mutually identified problems. Power has a positive connotation in that scenario and [is neither negative nor corrupting].

 

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