Investigating equitable economic growth

Developing sufficiency scenarios of economic development based on a more equitable redistribution of resource use between present and future generations and between developed and developing countries.

The billion people, or one-fifth, of the world's population who consume three-quarters of the world's resources are living unsustainable lifestyles because it would be impossible to sustain all humanity at this level of consumption. Another million people live far below the poverty line, are underfed and deprived of the most basic requirements. They are trying to produce and consume more and no one has the moral right to deny them this. In between are 3,000 million people who are relatively poor, but still able to meet their basic needs and live predominantly in poor "developing" countries. They aspire to develop to the level of the top billion. But were they to achieve this there would be an increase in pollution and the use of natural resources by a factor of 3 to 4, which would again intolerably exceed the limits of the Earth. This fact does not negate the wishes of the poor countries whose purpose is, naturally, to advance themselves. It is short-sighted given such inequity that only those countries who are presently "rich" and "industrial" will always remain in these positions. So there is an impasse. How long the have-nots continue to accept that only the lucky can reap the benefits of disproportionate growth, and how soon those one-fifth of the world fail to respond adequately to the reality of limited environmental resources, will determine the degree to which increased social tensions will contribute to redistribution.