POPULATION GROWTH HAS INCREASED AUSTRALIA’S CLIMATE EMISSIONS

Population growth of 8.3 million people since 1990 has caused a marked increase in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report released earlier this year. The report also warns that continuing population growth in Australia, combined with climate change, will make Australians vulnerable to food, water and energy scarcities in the future. The report found that annual greenhouse gas emissions from energy use had increased by 49% since 1990, due entirely to population growth. The report was commissioned as a discussion paper by the environmental advocacy group Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). SPA president Ms Jenny Goldie says: “We commissioned this discussion paper because the link between population and climate change is often overlooked or misunderstood. Many people have argued that linking population to climate change merely deflects attention from…