This expansion of consumption was not equitably distributed, and it had profound environmental impacts.
In the EU, each person consumes 16 tonnes of materials annually, of which 6 tonnes are wasted, with half going to landfill. Trends show that the era of plentiful and cheap resources is over. Businesses face rising costs for raw materials, and their scarcity and price volatility are having a damaging effect on the economy. Sources of minerals, metals and energy, and stocks of fish, timber, water, fertile soils, clean air, biomass, biodiversity are all under pressure, as is the stability of the climate system. Whilst demand for food, feed and fibre may increase by 70% by 2050, 60% of the world’s major ecosystems that help produce these resources have already been degraded or are used unsustainably. If we carry on using resources at the current rate, by 2050 we will need, the equivalent of more than two planets to sustain us, and the aspirations of many for a better quality of life will not be achieved.
UN International Resources Panel Scenarios indicate that:
• Business as usual will triple resource use by 2050
• Reduction by industrialized countries and catching up by developing nations will lead to a 40% increase in resource use
• Global consumption frozen at 2000 levels (converge industrial and developing) keeps global resource use at current levels, but requires a factor 3-5 reduction of resource use by developed nations.
Society & values. World needs to stabilise population and cut consumption, says Royal Society | Environment. World population will reach 9 billion by 2050. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images World population needs to be stabilised quickly and high consumption in rich countries rapidly reduced to avoid "a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills", warns a major report from the Royal Society. Contraception must be offered to all women who want it and consumption cut to reduce inequality, says the study published on Thursday, which was chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston. The assessment of humanity's prospects in the next 100 years, which has taken 21 months to complete, argues strongly that to achieve long and healthy lives for all 9 billion people expected to be living in 2050, the twin issues of population and consumption must be pushed to the top of political and economic agendas.
Both issues have been largely ignored by politicians and played down by environment and development groups for 20 years, the report says. Conflict Minerals | RAISE Hope for Congo. For more than a century, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plagued by regional conflict and a deadly scramble for its vast natural resources. In fact, greed for Congo’s natural resources has been a principal driver of atrocities and conflict throughout Congo’s tortured history.
In eastern Congo today, these mineral resources are financing multiple armed groups, many of whom use mass rape as a deliberate strategy to intimidate and control local populations, thereby securing control of mines, trading routes, and other strategic areas. Conflict Minerals in Your Electronics Profit from the mineral trade is one of the main motives for armed groups on all sides of the conflict in eastern Congo - the deadliest since World War II. Armed groups earn hundreds of millions of dollars per year by trading four main minerals: the ores that produce tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold. Multimedia Resources Conflict Minerals 101 Consuming the Congo Congo's Gold From Mine to Mobile. iPhone’s True Cost: Coltan Wars, Air Emissions, & Miscarriages. On paper, an iPhone 4S will run you as low as $199 if you hitch up with a wireless carrier contract; picking up one free of a contract will pump that price up to at least $649.00. Excepting the monthly utility bill you’ll need in order to use the iPhone as a phone, that’s how much it costs you, a consumer.
Not so terrible, really. But the total human cost of that slick device is shockingly steep and adds a much graver, even unconscionable tax to the device. For instance, there’s the human toll required to mine coltan, or columbite–tantalite, which is a dull black metallic ore that is capable of holding a high electrical charge. If you have any kind of electronic device – and if you live in the developed world then you almost certainly do – it’s got some coltan in it. More, every single iPhone to roll off the production line contains coltan. What’s more, the mining and value of coltan has perpetuated a bloody, extended conflict in the Congo. Do you see how this is going to add up yet? Legal. 'More transparency' needed in natural resource governance. More transparency is needed in how natural resources are managed around the world, according to a report.
The Revenue Watch Institute said 32 out of 58 countries did not meet "basic standards of resource governance". Revenue Watch says revenue from oil, gas and minerals can create huge natural wealth. But this is not always converted into human prosperity because of "mismanagement, a lack of transparency and corruption". "We're talking about whether the huge contracts and revenues to dozens and dozens of countries are transparent - not only are they opaque but are they corrupt - and whether the citizens get to know and benefit from the trillions of dollars," Revenue Watch president Daniel Kaufmann told the BBC. "There are billions of people who are poor but who live in the midst of natural wealth.
" He points to Nigeria as an example. In 2011 oil revenues in the West African country were about $70bn (£46bn), some 60% higher than total international aid to all of sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law. Economic & political. Com2011_571.pdf. Decoupling Report. Environment. Natural resources — The Earth's natural resources are vital to the survival and development of the human population.
These resources are limited by the Earth's capability to renew them. Although many effects of overexploitation are felt locally, the growing interdependence of nations, and international trade in natural resources, make their demand and sustainable management a global issue. More Natural resources and waste — Environmental regulation and eco-innovation have increased resource efficiency through a relative decoupling of resource use, emissions and waste generation from economic growth in some areas. However, absolute... more Biodiversity and the ecosystem services upon which we all depend are inextricably linked. Soil is a largely non-renewable natural resource that underpins a range of vital ecosystem services.
Certain regions of Europe are affected by soil salinisation, acidification, landslides or desertification, with considerable economic and environmental consequences. Science & technology. Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Process - About DARRP - DARRP. Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Process About DARRP How Natural Resource Damage Assessment Works After an oil spill or hazardous substance release, response agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the U.S. Coast Guard clean up the substance and eliminate or reduce risks to human health and the environment. NOAA conducts the following three steps in an NRDA: 1. Natural resource trustees determine whether injury to public trust resources has occurred. 2. Trustees quantify injuries and identify possible restoration projects. 3. The final step is to implement restoration and monitor its effectiveness. Although the concept of assessing injuries may sound simple, understanding complex ecosystems, the services these ecosystems provide, and the injuries caused by oil and hazardous substances takes time—often years.