Resource consumption tripled in 40 years
Global consumption of natural resources is growing at a dizzying pace: today it is over three times higher than it was 40 years ago.
Whether it's sand for concrete, steel, food or fossil fuels, our everyday lives rely heavily on natural resources.
The topic of resource efficiency is one of the goals of the UN's Agenda for Sustainable Development. A new report of the organization now shows how the consumption of natural resources has accelerated over the past four decades.
The figures are impressive: since 1970, the global population has doubled, but the economy and thus also material consumption have more than tripled. Per capita consumption of natural resources has increased from 7 tons to 10 tons during this time.
And a strong acceleration can be observed during this period, especially since 2000, which correlates strongly with China's industrial and urban transformation: the nation's construction and economic boom is gobbling up unprecedented amounts of steel, cement, energy and building materials.
The UN warns that the increasing consumption and transport of materials will intensify climate change, increase air pollution and reduce biodiversity. And last but not least, non-renewable resources will eventually dwindle - and this could lead to global conflicts, the UN says.
"We must urgently address this problem before we have irreversibly depleted the resources that keep our economy running. This is a profoundly complex problem, one of the greatest tests of humanity to date. It requires that we fundamentally rethink the extraction of natural resources," says Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, co-leader of the UN International Research Panel.
Whereas in 1970, 22 billion tons of material were extracted from the earth each year, today the figure is 70 billion tons. At the same time, the richest countries consume on average ten times more resources than the poorest. If the economy and the population grow as forecast, the 9 billion people in 2050 would need 180 billion tons of material every year.
At the same time, material efficiency has barely increased over the past 20 years - in fact, it has tended to decline since 2000. The UN attributes this to the fact that production has shifted from efficient countries such as Japan, South Korea and European states to much less efficient countries such as China, India and the Southeast Asian region.
Decouple growth
The world therefore urgently needs to use fewer primary resources, according to the report. This can only be achieved by decoupling economic growth from resource consumption. This requires "well thought-out strategies and rules," according to the UN. This is to be achieved with investments in research and development as well as improved rules and financing.
