Ageing societies will be better for the planet

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silvereconomy

There is a silver lining to the ageing of societies in the West. Amid fears of rising healthcare costs, soaring pension bills and a declining workforce, it seems that ageing could return Germany to carbon dioxide emission levels not seen since before the 1950s.

The average age is rising in most nations, as people live longer and birth rates fall. This process is most advanced in industrialised nations. Germany has a fertility rate of 1.4 children per woman and a life expectancy of 80. Half the population is aged 46 or older, a world record shared with Japan. Germany has 60 per cent more people aged over 65 than under 14, and a a report earlier this year for the German finance ministry warned that the costs of ageing and declining income-tax revenues could cut the country’s GDP by 3 per cent.

But greyer could mean greener, according to a detailed study of consumption patterns by age group. Fanny Kluge of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, and colleagues found that per-capita CO2 emissions in Western countries rise steadily as children become adults and as adults become more affluent. But after the age of 60, emissions decline by roughly 20 per cent when individuals retire and travel less.

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