Is the world ready for 10 billion people?

Syed Munir Khasru is chairman of IPAG Asia Pacific, a Melbourne-based think tank.

World Population Day, 11 July, comes at a time when humanity is on the brink of an extraordinary demographic transformation. The world’s population, currently around 7.6 billion, is projected by the United Nations to reach 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100. This unprecedented demographic shift raises an urgent question: is our world ready for 10 billion people?