Sustainable use of Natural Resources Victoria Robinson

Structure of this unit Part 1: Population & Consumerism The history of human resource use Extraction of resources Trade & Consumption Part 2: The Plastics Revolution The rise of convenience Plastics and the ocean Part 3: Towards Sustainable resource use The 3 R’s Food security Energy Water supply

Introduction Natural resources are the basis of all living beings on our planet: Useful raw materials which cannot be human-made Used and modified for human benefit Necessary for economy & society to function Electricity, heat, construction materials, drinking water, food, clothing etc.

Natural Resources

History of human resource use Material base of societies and economic systems Dramatic changes in per capita resource use Inhabitants of industrial society 4-8x more resources than in agricultural societies 15-30x more resources than hunter-gather societies Global ecosystems cannot keep up with demand

http://blogs.sas.com/content/sastraining/files/2013/04/world_resources.png

Extraction of resources Natural resource use is increasing 60 billion tonnes a year 50% more than 30 years ago Almost half of global extraction takes place in Asia Followed by North America (20%) Then Europe & Latin America (13% each) Large variations exist in resource extraction per capita Australian inhabitant extracts 10x more than inhabitant of Asia or Africa

Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia & China Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA Figure 6: Global resource extraction, by major groups of resources and regions (OECD, 2008) (source: OECD,2008; based on Giljum et al., 2008)

Trends in resource extraction Friends of the Earth Europe (2009): Overconsumption

Trade in Resources World trade accelerates resource extraction Local resources linked to global demand

What world regions export (2006) Friends of the Earth Europe (2009): Overconsumption

Consumption Friends of the Earth Europe (2009): Overconsumption