7 BILLION AND YOU
A David and Cecilia Ting Endowment Fund Lecture Series
Resources and the Seven Billion
Thursday, March 7, 2013, 7:00 pm,
Room 1900, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings
Presented by Dr. William Rees, Professor Emeritus, Population
Ecology, School of Community and Regional Planning, University
of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Abstract: Can the world really support the future population? The world is in a state of overshoot -- humans
are both consuming renewable resources faster than nature can regenerate and are filling waste sinks beyond
capacity. Even climate change is a waste-management problem. This unprecedented and potentially catastrophic
predicament is driven by both population growth and rising per capita consumption. The (un)sustainability crisis
is thus dominated by a single question--can the world community satisfy the material demands of the three
billion people who still live in poverty and meet the needs of an additional 2.5 billion expected by mid-century,
while simultaneously reducing gross energy and material consumption below current levels?
Bio-Sketch: William E. Rees, PhD, FRSC
William Rees is a human ecologist, ecological economist, Professor Emeritus and former director of the University of British
Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) in Vancouver, Canada. His research and teaching focus on the
biophysical prerequisites for sustainable societies in an era of accelerating global ecological change. Within this ‘envelope’, he has
special interests in a) the vulnerability of cities and policy for urban sustainability and b) human cognition and behavioural tendencies
that frustrate sustainability planning. Prof Rees is a founding member and past President of the Canadian Society for Ecological
Economics, a founding Director of the OneEarth Initiative, a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute and a long-standing member of the
Global Ecological Integrity Group. He is perhaps best known in ecological economics as the originator and co-developer of “ecological
footprint analysis.” His book on eco-footprinting, with then PhD student Dr Mathis Wackernagel, has been translated into eight
languages including Chinese. He has also authored over 140 peer reviewed papers and book chapters and numerous popular articles
on humanity’s (un)sustainability conundrum. The influence of Dr Rees’ work is widely recognized and awarded. He has lectured by
invitation in 25 countries around the world; the Vancouver Sun named Prof Rees one of British Columbia’s top public intellectuals in
2000; in 2006 he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada; in 2007 he was awarded a prestigious Trudeau Foundation Fellowship; in
2012 he received an honorary doctorate from Laval University and won both the Boulding Memorial Award of the International Society
for Ecological Economics and a Blue Planet Prize (jointly with his former PhD student, Dr Mathis Wackernagel).
7 Billion and You is a series of free public lectures and discussions by leading
thinkers on the patterns, processes and prognosis for a planet housing 7 billion
humans and counting. It is hosted by the Human Evolutionary Studies Program in
cooperation with Continuing Studies in Science and Environment at Simon Fraser
University. For details on all of the lectures visit (www.sfu.ca/cstudies/science/
projects.php). All of the lectures will be recorded and available on the website. For
more information, contact: lauriew@sfu.ca
Sponsors:
Faculty of Environment, SFU
Faculty of Science, SFU
Human Evolutionary Studies Program, SFU
David and Cecilia Ting Endowment, Lifelong Learning, SFU
Reservations:
As seating is limited, reservations are recommended: www.sfu.ca/reserve
Upcoming Lectures and Dialogues:
YOU and the Seven Billion - a discussion moderated by Don White, Interdisciplinary Studies, SFU, March 14
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