Who wants to live forever?

The world’s population may have recently topped 8 billion for the first time, but where the worries were once about the world becoming too crowded, now the concern is about a drop in global fertility rates. 

There are very real fears that a shrinking, ageing population could be catastrophic for the global economy and its healthcare systems. But some experts argue that there might in fact be an upside to population decline – especially when it comes to the earth’s natural resources.

In this episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Stephen J Shaw, data scientist, demographer and Director of the documentary "Birthgap - Childless World", Peter Elwin - Director of Fixed Income & Head of Food & Land Use Programme at Planet Tracker, Haleh Nazeri, Longevity Economy lead at the World Economic Forum and Dr Jennifer Sciubba - demographics expert and author of the book "8 billion and counting: How sex, death and migration shape our world”.