What role is overpopulation playing in the climate crisis?
If there were fewer of us, would the amount of greenhouse gasses we emit reduce? It\u2019s a question that often creeps up in discussions about climate change.\n \nStudies show that the global population will decline eventually and populations in many rich nations are already declining. \n \nHowever, 11,000 scientists signed a paper warning of \u201cuntold suffering due to the climate crisis\u201d unless society transforms, including the reversal of population growth.\n \nBut an analysis by the United Nations found that affluence has a greater impact on the climate than population.\n \nWhen we talk about overpopulation, what are we really saying and where does the conversation go from here?\n \nPresenters Neal Razzell and Kate Lamble are joined by:\n \nNyovani Madise, head of the Malawi office of the African Institute for Development Policy. \n \nAnu Ramaswami, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton. \n \nArvind Ravikumar, professor in energy transition and climate policy at the University of Texas. \n \nProducer: Darin Graham\nReporter: Rajesh Joshi\nSeries producer: Alex Lewis\nEditor: Emma Rippon\nSound engineer: Tom Brignell