On Tuesday, 15 November 2022, the world’s population has reached 8 billion.
According to the World Population Prospects 2022, India is projected to soon overtake China as the most populous country, with each having a population of more than 1.4 billion people. What’s next for sustainable development, and what does it mean for Australia?
More divisions ahead
The United Nations Secretary General A. Guterres recently warned, in an editorial for USA Today newspaper, of more global divisions to come, remarking:
“Unless we bridge the yawning chasm between the global haves and have-nots, we are setting ourselves up for an 8-billion-strong world filled with tensions and mistrust, crisis and conflict”.
Guterres noted that socio-economic inequalities are growing by day between the zones of war and zones of peace, rich and poor countries, as well as within each country. The marginalised groups, such as women, the youth and the elderly, as well as minorities that were hit the hardest during Covid-19 pandemic isolation measures are facing increased poverty levels, energy and food crisis, as well as environmental challenges such as floods and droughts. They are likely to continue to suffer unless the developed countries assume greater responsibility, and together with the Global South, “combine their capacities and resources for the benefit of humankind.”
He also warned that the conflict in Ukraine has continued to disrupt global food and energy supply channels, while also affecting the price of fertilisers which tripled since the beginning of 2022. Rice—the most consumed staple food—is expected to “suffer most”.
While underdeveloped countries, as well as the fastest growing ones in the Global South continue to face a myriad of social vulnerabilities, including high rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancy as well as high debt levels and poverty, the world’s most developed countries (including Australia) are ageing quickly with lowering fertility rates.
Australia and sustainable development at the G20 summit
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is attending the annual G20 summit in Bali, where he will meet (for the first time in six years for an Australian leader) China’s third-term President, Xi Jinping, for a formal meeting. Lifting Chinese tariffs on Australian products, such as barley and wine, will be among his top priorities in bilateral discussions.
The Business Council of Australia’s head, Jennifer Westacott, has hailed the meeting between the two leaders, describing their encounter as a “tremendous foreign policy reset”.
China is also a global leader in the climate change mitigation technology. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong remarked that this sector will potentially see a real growth in bilateral ties during Albanese’s term in office. However, geopolitical and military tensions in the South China Sea between China and many Western and neighbouring countries are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Calls to release detained Australians
Nick Coyle, the former head of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce and partner of detained Australian-Chinese journalist Cheng Lei, said he hopes that the Australian government will continue to advocate for her release—as well as demanding freedom for a prominent Australian pro-democracy writer and former Chinese government employee, Yang Hengjun.
Sustainable development is high on the G20 agenda in Bali this week, with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo, as the host, promoting investments and the global economic growth agenda. India, by then the world’s most populous nation, will host the 18th G20 summit in 2023. As one of the lowest performers on public health spending (5th lowest in the world), India still has a long way to go in reducing inequalities among the “haves and have-nots”. The United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda will indeed require a transformation of humankind in order to succeed