Prince William Says There Are Too Many People on Earth

Prince William has warned of the dangers of overpopulation just months before the birth of his third child.

The future king warned that wildlife is under threat from the increasing population growth in a passionate speech on Thursday.

He was speaking at the Tusk gala dinner in London last night and warned that Africa’s growing population was set to more than double by 2050 and voiced his concerns about the impact on wildlife and natural resources.

He said: “In my lifetime, we have seen global wildlife populations decline by over half.

“We are going to have to work much harder and think much deeper, if we are to ensure that human beings and the other species of animal with which we share this planet can continue to co-exist.

“Africa’s rapidly growing human population is predicted to more than double by 2050, a staggering increase of three and a half million people per month.

“There is no question that this increase puts wildlife and habitat under enormous pressure. Urbanisation, infrastructure development, cultivation — all good things in themselves, but they will have a terrible impact unless we begin to plan and to take measures now.”

The Duke of Cambridge is set to become father of a third child with wife Kate in April 2018.

Before the joyful news was announced, San Franciso organisation Having Kids, which promotes smaller families, told the royal couple to “lead by example” and stop after two children for environmental reasons.

They wrote an open letter in July and urged them to “consider forgoing having a third child […] in favour of modelling a smaller, sustainable family”.

They spoke out after Kate had joked about having more children during the royal tour of Poland.

Having Kids executive director Anne Green said: “William and Kate have a tremendous opportunity to model their choice of having a smaller family.

“By doing so, they set an example as to what has the most potential for mitigating climate change and its impacts, including severe flooding, deadlier heatwaves, increase in diseases, and wildlife extinctions.”

Prince Charles has also spoken out about his concerns over population growth in the past.

In a 2010 speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies he cautioned that the world does not have the capacity to “sustain us all”.

He said: “It would certainly help if the acceleration slowed down, but it would also help if the world reduced its desire to consume.”