1. The chemical industry mobilized in the face of upheaval

1.1 Demographic challenges

Visit xx ^he century has been marked by extraordinary growth in the world's population, which has risen from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion, an increase of 80% since 1950. And the world's population is set to continue growing. Based on the average fertility variant, the UN predicts that the world's population will reach 9 billion in 2040 and 9.3 billion in 2050. However, small but sustained variations in fertility rates can influence population size in the long term. For example, a high-fertility scenario in which fertility is half a child higher than the medium-fertility scenario gives a population of 10.9 billion in 2050.

Urbanization is another important trend. Over the...