Mr President, I think we need to broaden this debate beyond the problems of family planning, abortion and the Third World. We narrow it down to that level at our peril.

Of course it is true that there are problems in the Third World and problems of population growth, high mortality rates and environmental degradation and so on. I am sure the lady behind me agrees although she cannot really hear me as she is having a conversation of her own.

One of the real problems that we have is the curious notion that this is a problem for the Third World alone. I would reject that. It is not a problem for the Third World alone and if we tackle it as if it were we are bound to court defeat. The major obstacle to achieving sustainable growth is also the high level of consumption in developed countries and the amount of waste that these populations generate. Just because developed countries have population growth under control, and just because their population is sometimes even in decline, does not mean that they have less effect on the consumption of natural resources. The average person in a developing country, for example, produces a quantity of wase equivalent to only about 150 times his body weight of waste in his lifetime. The average European produces 1,000 times his body weight and the average American 3,900 times his body weight in waste during their lifetimes.

Population issues are global issues and they require a global approach. You cannot look at population as an issue for developing countries in isolation any more than you can address problems of profligate consumption and waste management here. Only an approach which takes all these factors into account will be able to overcome the obstacles to a sustainable society. Of course we need resource transfer, of course we need development aid and of course we should not be imposing our belief systems on third-world countries. That having been said, at least part of the solution, and a very important part, lies here in Europe. Unless we take our own behaviour and our own lifestyles into consideration then I am afraid our concern for population will indeed come to absolutely nothing.