![]() The UN’s International Resources Panel has projected that resource use per person will be 71 per cent higher than today in 2050. They investigated more than 60 materials and found that only in six was consumption decreasing. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2017 evaluated the use of raw materials such as crude oil and silicon and found that greater efficiencies led to price reductions, making commodities more affordable and, increasing their demand and usage. There is no evidence to support that, however. ![]() Some people believe that greater efficiencies in the use of resources mean we will use less of them. However, our demands are so great that according to the Global Footprint Network, we are now using those resources at almost twice the rate that the Earth can renew them. The Earth also provides for our needs with renewable resources, such as timber, clean water and air, healthy soils and wild fish consumed for food. Adding more consumers makes those resources run out faster. We are currently completely reliant on fossil fuels, iron and other metals, minerals and even such basic commodities as sand to keep the modern world ticking over. – Kenneth Boulding, Economist Renewable resourcesĮveryone understands that many of the Earth’s resources are finite. Fewer new consumers everywhere is one of them.Īnyone who believes in indefinite growth of anything physical on a physically finite planet is either a madman or an economist. Some of us take far more than others and there are many steps those of us who do must take to make our consumption sustainable. Every new person is a new consumer, adding to that demand. Today, the 8 billion people on it are using more of its resources than it can provide.
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