7 Billion Served

The UN predicts that by the end of October 2011 the 7 billionth person living on Earth will be born.

I have read several opinions about this event.

Some say it’s a non-event, suggesting that the Earth’s capacity is still unknown and likely much greater than we expect. Some suggest that in the economically developed world the population growth has plateaued so its “only” a problem in the developing regions of the world.   

Many leaders for global sustainability, however, from the social entrepreneur to the sustainability champion see it from the perspective of “connectedness”.

Simply put, the concept of connectedness is about how we are all linked around the world no matter where we live; linked because we all utilize the same life supporting ecosystems and linked because we are all human.

The former takes the practical stance. We are all co-dependent on each other because we eat, breath, and drink the food, air, and water from the same cycling resources. The latter might be seen as too “touchy- feely” by some, but speaks to the moral and ethical obligation we have to our fellow humans.

I think the research efforts of groups like Population Council are the best approach to curbing world population growth. Developing valid and effective collaborative action initiatives is the key.

Our part at Ecosphere Net is to pursue research of the most effective cross-cultural learning systems to characterize, develop, and connect community leaders for sustainability worldwide.

EJ Wensing

ejwensing@ecosphere.net