Rio+20 Earth Summit

More than 100 academies of science from around the world, including the UK's Royal Society, have joined together to urge world leaders to take action on population growth and over-consumption, ahead of the UN's Rio+20 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, held on the 20th anniversary of the first such meeting. About 115 world leaders are expected to attend the main event on 20-22 June, but a series of conferences involving businesses, environmental groups and non-governmental organisations are being held in advance.

Professor Charles Godfray, Professorial Fellow in Zoology at Jesus College, has chaired the working group of IAP, the global network of science academies, which is participating in the Earth Summit. In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, broadcast on Thursday 14 June, Professor Godfray stressed that reducing population growth is only a part of the problem, and that reducing consumption, especially in the rich world, is also of great importance. (The interview may be found approximately 47 minutes from the start of the programme.)

See also The Independent and BBC News.