Healthy ageing for a healthy planet: do sustainable solutions exist?

In terms of both scale and impact, population ageing has far-reaching implications for our planet, not least as a major driver of population growth and consequent ever-increasing human demands on natural resources and ecosystems. Worldwide in 2018, for the first time in history, people aged 65 years and older outnumbered children younger than 5 years,1 with two-thirds of the world's older population now living in low-income and middle-income countries. Increases in life expectancy and subsequent population growth will fundamentally affect sustainable development efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve food security, ensure sustainable water supplies, build inclusive and resilient communities, and ensure sustainable consumption.