WHAT DOES 8 BILLION POPULATION MEAN

31 Jan 2023

Earth now has 8 billion people—and counting. What does this mean?

From the emergence of modern humans, it took roughly 300,000 years before one billion of us populated the Earth. That was in 1804.

In just 12 years (from 2010-2022), we have now added another billion.

So, what does this mean for us, the environment, and the planet as a whole?

In November 2022, the Earth’s population hit 8 billion, there are now more people alive on the planet than any other time and the numbers keep going up. Strains on resources, CO2 emissions, destruction of the natural environment is increasing – what in reality does this mean?

• Increased greenhouse gas emissions from human activities such as transportation, energy production, and deforestation.
• Overconsumption of natural resources, leading to depletion of forests, water sources, wildlife (including food sources) and other ecosystems.
• Waste generation and improper disposal of waste, contributing to land and ocean pollution.
• Urbanisation and associated energy consumption for heating, cooling, and lighting.
• Changes in land use for agriculture, urban development, and resource extraction.

All of these factors contribute to global warming and other climate changes, leading to sea level rise, more frequent and intense weather events, and biodiversity loss.

One overarching problem which feeds into all of these areas is our reliance on fossil fuels - it is driving the biggest and most far-reaching issues.

The use of fossil fuels is driving climate change which in turn is causing desertification of the land, acidification of the oceans, food poverty, inequality across the globe, food shortages, and the destruction of wildlife. With more and more people on the planet – this only increases threatening us all.

Doing nothing is not an option, we must act now and we must do the basics in order to effect the biggest change possible.

At SoCo we are often talking about small, incremental change – this is still important as it collectively has an enormous impact – however, there are two big changes you can make from the comfort of your own sofa which have far reaching positive ramifications, immediately.

1. Change your energy supplier now. Switch to Octopus Energy. They guarantee that your home will be supplied with 100% green energy. Just using an eco-tariff on your current supplier isn’t enough – many of them are not as green as they would have you believe and greenwashing is common.
2. Check on where your savings and pension are invested. In 2021 Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and Santander pumped more than $66 BILLION into the fossil fuel industry. They receive the leverage to do this through us – our current accounts, savings and pensions. Moving your pension to a green fund is one of the most impactful things you can do. Analysis by Bloomberg shows that green pension funds actually track higher than their non-sustainable counterparts. You can do this via MotherTree.

Act now - you are powerful.

#socolifestyle