In this podcast, Jack Goldstone of George Mason University discusses the world’s demographic stresses in the coming years. In parallel to a growing trend of population aging in developed countries, much of the world will remain young, growing, and urbanizing, he said. The choices these growing countries make over the next few decades will have reverberating effects for the rest of the world, from conflict potential to the spread of stable democracies.

In this podcast, journalist Sam Eaton describes the process of producing two pieces that aired on Marketplace and NewsHour last year on the connection between population, the environment, and food security in the Philippines. Eaton visited the rural village of Humayhumay where PATH Foundation Philippines, Inc., has a pilot program distributing contraceptives and teaching community members about conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Although Eaton said he was at first hesitant to tackle such an “abstract concept” as integrated population, health, and environment development, he found on the ground that it had “all the elements of a good story” and there were tangible benefits visible within the community. Eaton discussed his reporting at the Wilson Center on January 28.

“Building resilience should help address the root causes of vulnerability, creating increased capacity to be able to adapt to a range of possible climate futures, not just cope with… specific climate impacts,” says International Alert’s Janani Vivekananda. Otherwise, if the specific impacts don’t play out, “in a fragile context that could be quite destabilizing and seen as a wasted opportunity.”

Increasing energy demands around the world will mean a continuing focus on other fuel sources and climate change, said Peter Thomson of PRI’s The World, including the use of coal in countries like China and the safety of hydraulic fracturing and nuclear power. Other areas to watch include water, agriculture, and possible tipping points like dieback in the Amazon rainforest.