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“U.N. Plans to Reduce Global Population.” Fact-Checking Belarus’ State-run TV Host Azarenok's Claim
The WTF team examined the organization's Sustainable Development Goals and found the real data.
Grigory Azarenok, a Belarusian pro-government TV host, recently made the bold claim that the United Nations is pursuing a plan to reduce the world's population. However, an investigation by the Weekly Top Fake team into the organization’s agenda through 2030 found no mention of decreasing the number of people on Earth.
During the November 20th broadcast of his program “Azarenok. Directly,” Mr. Azarenok discussed the alleged U.N. population reduction plans with a pro-government political analyst, Evgeny Pustovoy.
“We have already achieved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We achieved them a long time ago,” Pustovoy stated.
“Wait, has anyone actually read them?” Azarenok interjected.
“Yes, has anyone read them?” Pustovoy repeated.
“Has anyone read them? It explicitly states: reduce the population of the planet. For sustainable development,” the host added.
The U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015, outline 17 global objectives aimed at “peace and prosperity for people and the planet” by 2030. However, the Weekly Top Fake investigation found no provision for decreasing the world’s population among these targets.
The goals include measures to combat hunger, poverty, and climate change, as well as to ensure quality education, gender equality, sustainable cities, and more.
Belarus is one of the countries that has committed to working toward achieving the SDGs.
So far, no country has fully achieved all 17 of the U.N. goals. Belarus ranks 30th out of 193 nations in terms of progress, having nearly eliminated poverty and inequality.
However, indicators for decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, as well as peace, justice, and effective institutions have shown signs of deterioration.
By the end of 2023, Belarusian authorities reported that they had already achieved 80.5% of their targets.
