IUSSP Debate:
"The population of humans that can be supported sustainably on the planet at a reasonable standard of living is below 4 billion." Yes or No.

Wednesday 18 October 2023
Webinar description
This was a member-proposed webinar organized by Stan Becker. The topic of the debate was:
• "The population of humans that can be supported sustainably on the planet at a reasonable standard of living is below 4 billion." Yes or No.
Four debaters took turns debating in favor of one of the two positions: Timothy Guinnane and Jacques Emina argued "No", while Anastasia Pseiridis and Frank Götmark argued "Yes”. The webinar was introduced by IUSSP President Shireen Jejeebhoy and moderated by Stan Becker. Joel Cohen offered some background to frame the debate and Suzana Cavenaghi provided a summary of the debate at the end.
The debaters' slides and those by Joel Cohen are available in the table below.
The audience was invited to post questions in the Q&A. See the questions.
Attendees were also invited to cast their vote in favor of one of the arguments before and after the debate. The results of the first and second poll are below:


INTRODUCTION

Shireen Jejeebhoy
Aksha Centre for Equity and Wellbeing, India
IUSSP President
MODERATOR

Stan Becker
Johns Hopkins University, United States
BACKGROUND FOR THE DEBATE

Joel E. Cohen
Rockefeller University & Columbia University, United States
SLIDES (followed by transcript)
DEBATERS

Jacques Emina
University of Kinshasa & Population and Health Research Institute, Democratic Republic of Congo
SLIDES

Frank Götmark
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
SLIDES

Timothy Guinnane
Yale University, United States
SLIDES

Anastasia Pseiridis
Panteion University, Greece
SLIDES
SUMMARY

Suzana Cavenaghi
Independent researcher, Brazil