人口与气候变化相关吗

气候变化涉及人口问题。把与气候变化相关的研究、政策制定和建议同人口动态结合起来,这对理解全球温室气体排放、制定和实施应变措施,以及在全球和国家层面努力应对这种威胁,有着重要的作用。在过去的15年里,气候变化已经上升为全球环境问题中的一个重要问题,被提到议事日程上来。但人口问题与气候变化之间的关系却慢慢淡出人们的视线,常常被忽视。2009年6月24～25日,联合国人口基金、国际环境和发展研究所联袂联合国人居署、联合国人口司,共同主办了一个人口动态与气候变化专家小组会议。在这次会议上,著名的人口和气候变化专家从方法论和实际情况上介绍目前该领域的一些相关知识,如人口增长、人口规模以及气体排放、人口的脆弱性和适应性、移民和城市化等,回答了人们的诸多疑问,如是气候决定了人类的命运,还是人类活动引发了地球危机?等,阐述了决策者在全球、区域和国家的层面,都需要将人口动态纳入其应对气候变化的反应之中。这次会议的发言通过遴选后被编辑成《你与全球气候变化》一书,为了帮助广大读者扩大和加深对各种人口与气候变化关系的理解,本刊从2011年第一期开始将陆续刊登该书的摘要。     

你与全球气候变化——全球二十余位顶尖级专家学者谈人类活动与全球气候变化的关系：人口与气候变化相关吗

气候变化涉及人口问题。把与气候变化相关的研究、政策制定和建议同人口动态结合起来,这对理解全球温室气体排放、制定和实施应变措施,以及在全球和国家层面努力应对这种威胁,有着重要的作用。在过去的15年里,气候变化已经上升为全球环境问题中的一个重要问题,被提到议事日程上来。但人口问题与气候变化之间的关系却慢慢淡出人们的视线,常常被忽视。     

城市化的二元分析框架与我国乡村城市化研究

二元经济结构和二元区域结构理论是人口城市化研究中的两个重要基础理论框架。本文在简单介绍这两种理论模型的基础上 ,评述了它们在研究当今发展中国家人口城市化问题上的局限性 ,并结合中国改革开放以来乡村城市化的实践 ,论述了中国乡村城市化研究在突破基于二元分析框架的城市化和区域发展理论局限性上的重要意义     

人口问题本质上是发展问题

本文分析了中国人口问题产生和变化的原因,从理论和实践两个方面探讨了解决人口问题的"人口方案"与"经济方案"的相互联系.从长期的角度分析人口增长影响的结论不能盲目应用到时期性的人口政策设计上.本文对中国人口问题进行分析有两个基本结论第一,中国人口数量过多,必须坚定不移地实行控制人口的政策;第二,中国人口问题的最终解决不能仅依赖人口总量的缩减,而主要应依赖发展,因为人口问题本质上是发展问题.在人口控制潜力基本释放殆尽的新的历史条件下,第二个结论可能更重要.     

政府在建立和完善农村养老制度中的作用

中国农村老年人口约占老年人口的 70 %左右 ,是世界上农村老年人口最多的国家。中国农村养老问题的解决 ,不仅对中国 ,而且对世界 ,尤其是发展中国家农村养老问题的解决具有重要意义。因此 ,发挥政府职能 ,把农村养老问题纳入整个社会经济发展战略的总框架之内 ,制定相应政策 ,对于妥善解决农村养老问题 ,促进农村社会、经济以及文化等的发展 ,确保农村稳定十分重要。1　基本背景在相当长的一段历史时期内 ,农村问题将依然是中国的根本问题。目前 ,城乡二元格局仍然是中国社会经济发展的一个基本特征。随着社会主义市场经济的逐步成熟 ,这种…     

人口变动对气候变化的影响

人口与气候变化关系是一个非常缺乏研究的领域。本文总结近年有关人口变动对气候变化影响研究领域的状况,讨论不同研究方法和模型的应用成果及其局限性,特别介绍了应用整合评估模型iPETS对主要国家和地区温室气体排放预测结果,指出人口变动与经济发展、技术变动等都是人类影响气候变化的决定因素;人口变动的影响不只是人口规模的增减,人口和家庭户结构及其空间分布的变化也是应该考虑的内容;家庭户应该成为气候变化研究的人口分析单位;人口老化、城市化、家庭规模缩小等都是影响未来气候变化的重要人口因素。本研究提供了改进气候预测模型对人口变量处理方式的实例,指出了在制定减缓气候变化政策过程中考虑人口因素的重要性和可操作建议。     

人口问题是中国可持续发展的首要问题

中国实施可持续发展战略，必须从中国处于并将长期处于社会主义初级阶段的基本国情出发，走有中国特色的可持续发展的正确道路。人口问题是中国实现可持续发展面临的首要问题，而资源的持续利用、生态环境的保护则是实现可持续发展的基础。中国要实现可持续发展，需要解决的问题很多。其中，人口与经济发展、人口与社会进步、人口与资源利用和保护环境以及人口数量与人口素质相互依赖和制约的问题，是一些非解决不可的极端重要的问题。既然人口问题是中国可持续发展的首要问题。那么我们就必须从战略高度确定人口与计划生育工作跨世纪发展的基本框架。     

论中国计划生育政策的性质和表现形式

文章从公共政策的理论框架出发,诠释了中国计划生育政策的本质特征。文章认为,中国计划生育政策的目标是解决中国在发展中的人口问题,其实质是在生育问题上实施的对社会价值的权威性分配方案,以协调个体之间、个体与国家之间目标和价值分配方面的冲突。计划生育政策必须遵循合目的性、合规律性、合规范性相统一的原则。     

21世纪中国人口负增长惯性初探

本文计算了中国1950～2006年期间的人口内在自然增长率,发现早在1990年时内在增长率就已经由正变负。并且通过该指标与人口自然增长率的比较发现,中国过去十几年的低生育率正在逐渐累积起人口负增长惯性。此外,本文基于不同的模拟方案结果揭示出,人口负增长惯性将会对未来中国人口规模和年龄结构有重大影响。本研究旨在说明,中国人口发展处于转折的关键时期,应当充分认识低生育率下的人口负增长惯性问题,有关人口决策必须尊重人口发展的内在规律。     

中国、美国和联合国

1986年12月,我曾有机会访问中国,与有关部门和人士就人口问题进行了广泛的交流与讨论。 考虑到联合国对人口问题的介入,此次中国之行之所以重要至少基于三个原因。 第一个,也是最直接最紧迫的问题,就是美国与联合国人口活动基金之间关于该基金参与中国计划生育方案所进行的无休止的争论。争论的结果之一,即国际社会对多边人口活动,尤其是通过联合国进行的多边人口活动是否还要继续的问题。 第二个问题涉及到中国本身的人口状况。这个大国的出生率究竟发生了什么变化?未来的预测是何结果?计划生育是否正按其目标进行?从世界人口前景看,鉴于中     

Policy review: thoughts on addressing population and climate change in a just and ethical manner

Many believe that linking population growth to the issue of climate change will help to place family planning back into the political realm as an urgent matter of national and environmental security. Others worry, however, that focusing on the environmental impacts of demographic change places at risk the hard-fought and long-developed global consensus that individual rights and empowerment are what matters most in fostering sustainable development and stabilizing population growth. This paper focuses on United States population policy. It presents a brief historical background and summarizes the state of scientific evidence regarding the impacts of population growth on climate change. It then analyzes some of the underlying ethical issues involved in advancing an advocacy argument around increasing family planning as a way to slow population growth and mitigating climate change. Finally, it recommends a way in which advocates can frame the connections between population growth and climate change in a just and ethical manner.     

Impacts of population change on vulnerability and the capacity to adapt to climate change and variability: a typology based on lessons from “a hard country”

This article describes and analyzes the impacts of population and demographic change on the vulnerability of communities to climate change and variability. It begins with a review of existing literature on the effects of population change on anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, the exposure of settlements to climate risks, and on the capacity to adapt to climate change. The article explores the relationship between population change and adaptive capacity through detailed examination of empirical findings from a study of small communities in eastern Ontario, Canada currently experiencing a combination of changes in local climatic conditions and rapid demographic change caused by in-migration of urban retirees and out-migration of young, educated people. The combination of changing demographic and climatic patterns has placed increased stress on local social networks that have long been critical to climate adaptation in that region. The case study and literature review are used to create a general typology of the relationship between population change and vulnerability that may be used as a framework for future research in this field.     

“中国、日本、韩国人口与发展国际学术会议”综述

当前,人口变动与发展成为一个令人关注的重要问题,需要我们认真研究。本次中国、日本、韩国人口与发展国际学术会议,就各国的生育水平、生育文化、人口政策、老龄化等问题交流学术观点,这对于加强各国学者之间的交流与合作,具有重要的现实意义。     

Climate change and population migration in Brazil’s Northeast: scenarios for 2025–2050

This research contributes to an understanding of the relationship between climate change, economic impacts and migration. We model the long-term relationship (up to 45 years of projection) between demographic dynamics—particularly migration—driven by changes in the performance of the economy due to climate changes in the Northeast region of Brazil. The region is of particular relevance to the study of climate change impacts given its large human population (28% of Brazil’s population) and high levels of impoverishment, having an extensive semi-dry area which will be severely impacted by growing temperatures. Ultimately, the integrated model generates state- and municipal-level migration scenarios based on climate change impacts on the primary economic sectors and their articulations with other sectors. Results suggest that the predicted climate changes will impact severely the agriculture sector in the region, acting as a potential migration push factor to other regions in the country. Finally, we discuss how the increased vulnerability of some groups, particularly migrants, can be factored into Brazilian public policy and planning.     

Enhancing engagement between the population,environment, and climate research communities: the shared socio-economic pathway process

Demographers have much to contribute to climate change science. This paper describes a new framework being developed by the climate research community that holds potential as an organizing tool for population–climate scholarship, as well as being useful for identifying demographic research gaps within the climate change field. The shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) represent plausible alternative trends in the evolution of social and natural systems over the twenty-first century at the scale of the world and large regions. The SSPs can help identify population–environment research gaps by illuminating areas of intersection that will shape climate futures but require deeper scientific understanding—the association between urbanization and energy consumption is an example. Also, to vastly enhance the policy relevance of local case studies, the parameters outlined within the SSPs can offer a basic level of harmonization to facilitate generalization. In this way, the SSP framework can increase the relevance and accessibility of population research and, therefore, offer a mechanism through which demographic science can truly offer policy impact.     

How do Recent Population Trends Matter to Climate Change?

Although integrated assessment models (IAM) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) consider population as one of the root causes of greenhouse gas emissions, how population dynamics affect climate change is still under debate. Population is rarely mentioned in policy debates on climate change. Studies in the past decade have added significantly to understanding the mechanisms and complexity of population and climate interactions. In addition to the growth of total population size, research shows that changes in population composition (i.e. age, urban–rural residence, and household structure) generate substantial effects on the climate system. Moreover, studies by the impact, vulnerability and adaptation (IAV) community also reveal that population dynamics are critical in the near term for building climate change resilience and within adaptation strategies. This paper explores how global population dynamics affect carbon emissions and climate systems, how recent demographic trends matter to worldwide efforts to adapt to climate change, and how population policies could make differences for climate change mitigation and adaptation.     

Population, climate, and electricity use in the Arctic integrated analysis of Alaska community data

Towns and villages of Arctic Alaska experience substantial year-to-year variations in weather, overlaid on longer-term warming trends. Community populations often are changing as well, reflecting highly variable net migration, overlaid on longer-term trends of natural increase. Both environmental and population change affect Arctic communities?? energy needs. Energy needs in the Arctic tend to be high and expensive, posing challenges to communities?? long-term viability. In this paper, we analyze relationships between weather, population, and one important measured component of energy??community-level electricity consumption. Electricity for the most part is generated locally from diesel fuel, which has a local environmental footprint as well. Taking a new approach to the integrated analysis of climate and human-dimensions data, we apply mixed-effects modeling to time series of electricity, weather, population, and price indicators across 42 Alaska towns and villages. Population dominates annual variations in electricity use, showing both general and community-specific effects that are strongest in the regional centers. Weather also affects electricity use, but for different reasons than it does in more urban areas to the south. Given population stability, a warming climate should lead to lower electricity demand. Population growth can override climate effects, however. Net of population, weather, and price, there has been an upward trend in per capita electricity use.     

Demographic aspects of climate change mitigation and adaptation

This paper addresses the contribution of changes in population size and structures to greenhouse gas emissions and to the capacity to adapt to climate change. The paper goes beyond the conventional focus on the changing composition by age and sex. It does so by addressing explicitly the changing composition of the population by level of educational attainment, taking into account new evidence about the effect of educational attainment in reducing significantly the vulnerability of populations to climatic challenges. This evidence, which has inspired a new generation of socio-economic climate change scenarios, is summarized. While the earlier IPCC-SRES (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—Special Report on Emissions Scenarios) scenarios only included alternative trajectories for total population size (treating population essentially as a scaling parameter), the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) in the new scenarios were designed to capture the socio-economic challenges to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and include full age, sex, and education details for all countries.     

Climate Mobility and Development Cooperation

Population and Environment - Development cooperation actors have been addressing climate change as a cross-cutting issue and investing in climate adaptation projects since the early 2000s. More...