Population Dynamics and the Environment: The Demo-climatic Transition

This chapter discusses how the evolution of environmental concerns, particularly Global Environmental Changes (GEC), has been mostly decoupled from demographic thinking, specifically in terms of population transition theories. This gap in the literature is particularly relevant in a world where climate change will be a dominant force affecting human behavior. In order to reconcile environmental and demographic perspectives, we propose a revision of population transition theories towards an integrated population-GEC framework, which we name here the Demo-climatic Transition. We thus argue that understanding the nature and consequences of population transitions will be fundamental in the elaboration and implementation of policies regarding the environment in the next decades, particularly those related to climate change. In particular, we discuss how the co-evolution of population and climate transitions in the coming decades may severely impact old and new vulnerabilities across the globe, particularly in the less developed countries, and may impose challenges for population and adaptation policies.