Population, Environment and Development: Culture Matters

for the privilege of serving as your special discussant. The Population Division's excellent report gives a scholarly and objective review of the extraordinary changes in population, the environment and development during the 20th century. The report reviews carefully many case studies, theories and points of view, and reaches this modest conclusion: "Although it is widely acknowledged that important relations exist between population, development and the environment, there is little agreement about the nature and magnitude of links. There is widespread recognition that population growth is one of the many factors that impact the environmental resource base. … " [page 121] I suggest that the links among population, development and the environment are difficult to understand in part because a fourth topic is missing from the list, namely, culture. Culture includes technology, institutions, law, politics, and values. Without an understanding of these aspects of culture, we have little chance of understanding how population, development and the environment interact. If I had to summarize my remarks in just two words, I would say: culture matters