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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Lizzy Davies

UN warns against alarmism as world’s population reaches 8bn milestone

Hundreds of people sitting, standing or bathing at the  Jomo Kenyatta public beach in Mombasa, Kenya
Kenyans on a beach in Mombasa. The world’s population is projected to reach 8bn next month but the pace of global population growth has halved since the 1960s to under 1%. Photograph: AP

The world must not engage in “population alarmism” as the number of people living on Earth nears 8 billion, a senior UN official has said.

The global population is projected to reach that milestone on 15 November, with some commentators expressing worries about the impact of the growing number on a world already struggling with huge inequality, the climate crisis, and conflict-fuelled displacement and migration.

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