Fears for environment over ageing population

Inadequate attention has been given to the potential environmental impact of demographic change in the UK, according to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP).

In its final report before being abolished as a defunct quango, the RCEP called for a greater focus on efforts to reduce consumption and waste generation by individual people and households.

Unless such issues were addressed there would be a “substantial risk” of costly problems emerging in the next 40 years, it said.

The report drew attention to the mounting impact of rising affluence, increasing numbers of pensioners, the move towards smaller and less energy- efficient households, and population growth in densely packed regions such as the South East.

These were some of the main trends that threatened negative effects in terms of air pollution, water quality and supply, greenhouse gas emissions, waste disposal and biodiversity.

Such problems could not be addressed by measures such as reducing birth rate or controlling immigration, said the Royal Commission.

From 2009 to 2033, Britain’s population was expected to rise from a total of 61.9 million to around 71.6 million, with a “significant” increase in the proportion of people over the age of 65. Over the past 40 years the country’s population had grown by about 10 per cent while national income had more than doubled.

Some campaigners have called for urgent attempts to stabilise the growth in population by non-coercive means.

However, even if the birth rate was reduced, immigration curbed, and the trend towards greater longevity halted, there would be little significant reduction in population over the next 40 years, said the RCEP.