Problem
Natural resource depletion due to high-level consumption
Other Names:
Excessive environmental demand per capitaLifestyle overdemand on resources
Disproportionate environmental damage by rich
Nature:
As world population increases and incomes rise, the growing demand for goods and services results in greater derived demands for non-renewable natural resources. Not only is agricultural land used more intensively and extensively, but mineral resources (including liquid resources, such as water and petroleum, and gaseous resources, such as natural gas) are used more intensively. The extraction of land resources and their transformation into products reduce the concentrations of these resources in the earth's crust, making it more and more difficult to obtain them.
Incidence:
India and China each grow at the rate of 17 million people plus per year but together account for only 13 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide, whereas the USA with only 2.6 million new people a year produces 52 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Broader Problems:
Resource depletionIndiscriminate economic developmentUnconstrained exploitation of natural resourcesUnethical practices in natural resource management Narrower Problems:
Environmental povertySubsidized natural resource consumptionResource consumption exacerbated by price distortionsExcessive consumption of resources in industrialized countries Aggravates:
Scarce resourcesShortage of natural resources Strategies:
Involving consumers in biodiversity conservationProviding public access to environmental informationUsing recycled materialsPlanning development of natural resourcesReducing lifestyle overdemand on resourcesDepleting natural resourcesConsuming natural resourcesUsing environmental resources References:
Durning, Alan Thein: How Much is Enough?: the consumer society and future of earthWorld Resources Institute: World Resources 1994-95, A Guide to the Global Environment: people and the environment Subject(s):
Amenities → ConsumptionEnvironment → Environment
Experiential Activity → Experiential activity
Resources → Resources
Societal Problems → Destruction
Societal Problems → Inadequacy
Value Redistribution → Value redistribution
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
D: Detailed problems Date of last update
22.05.2019 – 16:54 CEST