The growth in population numbers isn't the reason why things are messed up.

Global GDP (an important economic indicator for pro-capitalist governments) moves in tandem with Global CO2 levels.

Emission-based targets have been ineffective in reducing emissions.

The only time emissions have gone down in this century is during the GFC, and COVID.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-coronavirus-impact-on-co2-emissions-six-times-larger-than-financial-crisis/

These were also times where the Global GDP went down.

The pursuit of non-stop economic expansion by the top trillion dollar economies of the world is clearly the problem.

This goal requires non-stop use of fossil fuels (oil+coal+gas), which is an insane objective to have when

-the resources of the world (while immense) are not infinite

-people need the average surface temp. of the Earth to be between 13.9C to 15C in order for us to live, and burning more fuels moves you further outside of the upper limit, and is a recipe for preventable death +destruction

If we want to see lower CO2 levels, the economic output of the top trillion dollar economies of the world (where the greatest deal of emissions come from) will need to come down (ideally while maintaining acceptable living standards).

And it's possible to provide decent living standards for everyone, with just 30% of the global energy, and resource use from 2019

Abstract

Some narratives in international development hold that ending poverty and achieving good lives for all will require every country to reach the levels of GDP per capita that currently characterise high-income countries. However, this would require increasing total global output and resource use several times over, dramatically exacerbating ecological breakdown. Furthermore, universal convergence along these lines is unlikely within the imperialist structure of the existing world economy. Here we demonstrate that this dilemma can be resolved with a different approach, rooted in recent needs-based analyses of poverty and development. Strategies for development should not pursue capitalist growth and increased aggregate production as such, but should rather increase the specific forms of production that are necessary to improve capabilities and meet human needs at a high standard, while ensuring universal access to key goods and services through public provisioning and decommodification. At the same time, in high-income countries, less-necessary production should be scaled down to enable faster decarbonization and to help bring resource use back within planetary boundaries.

With this approach, good lives can be achieved for all without requiring large increases in total global throughput and output.

Provisioning decent living standards (DLS) for 8.5 billion people would require only 30% of current global resource and energy use, leaving a substantial surplus for additional consumption, public luxury, scientific advancement, and other social investments. Such a future requires planning to provision public services, to deploy efficient technology, and to build sovereign industrial capacity in the global South.

The key question is going to be how can the GDP be brought down?

Some ways.

1)A miracle

2)Government action

-Pass a bunch of good policies/regulations that would result in a reduction in economic output, reduce income inequality, maintain decent living standards, and crack down on the extravagant lifestyles of the rich

-[For America] The richest states pass a bunch of good policies/regulations that reduces economic output, while maintaining decent living standards

3)Collective public action

-National strike by 3.5% of the population in the top trillion dollar economies of the world for an unspecified amount of time

-3.5% of the population in the top trillion dollar economies of the world just stays home for some unknown amount of time, and backs away from unnecessary spending

In 2019, 418 exajoules were consumed globally, it's possible (with efficient tech. use) to provide a decent living standard to all with 125 exajoules.

Note: An exajoule is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (One Quintillion Joules)

The problem is the economic system, not the global population.