Men, Women, and Sustainability

Daily, in the popular press, politics, and academe, we read and hear about environmental consequences of the combined effects of population growth and per capita consumption (e.g., Durning, 1994; Mello, 1994; MacKellar & Hatcher, 1994). The Limits to Growth study of 1972 argued that current growth trends would reach serious limits, but that it was possible to alter patterns and "establish a condition of ecological and economic stability that is sustainable into the future." Since then, a number of environmentalists and political leaders have adopted sustainable development as a goal. The Brundtland Report in 1987 defined sustainable development as "development that seeks to meet needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability to meet those of the future." Concepts of "sustainability," though they vary in details, always concern interactions of population numbers and resource use levels. When the "Northern" and "Southern" nations squared off at the Rio Conference in 1992, each side made valid points in the sustainability debate. A population's total impact on any environment is a combined effect of the number of individuals consuming (often seen as a problem of less developed nations, with high population growth rates) times the per capita consumption rate and the impact of consumption technology (problems of developed nations). Although what contributes most urgently to any particular problem will vary, ignoring either population numbers or per capita consumption can lead to incomplete analysis and misdirected action. Thirty years ago, population growth was seen as the major problem in sustainable development. Many scholars felt that demographic transition