Population and Resource Consumption

A country’s impact on the environment is not just a function of its population size, but also of how much its citizens consume and the resources needed to fuel that consumption.  Irreplaceable resources including water supplies, forests, animal species, clean air and land are being consumed at unprecedented rates in industrialized nations, but the vast majority of the world receives no benefit from this consumption. 

·        Disparities in consumption. According to the United Nations, the richest fifth of humanity—the 20% of the world’s people living in the highest income countries—consume 86% of all goods and services, while the poorest fifth consume 1.3% of goods and services.  World consumption expanded at an unprecedented rate in the 20th century, yet 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation, 1.3 billion have no access to clean water, 1.1 billion lack adequate housing and nearly 900 million have no access to modern health services of any kind.  (Source:  United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 1998, New York, 1998)

·        Production techniques and the world’s resource base.  The burning of fossil fuels has almost quintupled since 1950. Consumption of fresh water has doubled since 1960, and wood consumption (for household and industry use) is 40% higher than 25 years ago—shrinking the world’s forests.  A sixth of the world’s land area is now degraded as a result of overgrazing and poor farming practices. (Source:  United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 1998, New York, 1998)

·        Fish shortages.  One-quarter of all fish stocks are listed as “depleted” or in danger of being depleted; another 44% are being fished “at the biological limit.” This is driven by export demand in wealthy nations, not by food needs, and it strains the primary protein source for nearly a billion people in 40 developing nations. (Source:  United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 1998, New York, 1998)

·        Deforestation in the developing countries. The developing countries are hit hardest by deforestation—over the last 20 years, Latin America and the Caribbean lost 7 million hectares of tropical forest and Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have lost 4 million hectares each.  This is in part to fuel the demand for wood and paper, which has doubled and quintupled respectively since 1950. However, over half the wood and nearly three-quarters of the paper is used in industrial countries. (Source:  United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 1998, New York, 1998)

·        Obesity and malnutrition.  There are now 1.2 billion obese people in the world¾ matching the total number of people in hunger.  One in five American children are considered overweight and 55% of American adults are overweight by international standards.  Obesity and malnutrition often co-exist in developed and developing countries, highlighting the different consumption patterns within a country’s population   (Source:  Worldwatch, Underfed and Overfed: The Global Epidemic of Malnutrition,  September 1999)

March 2000

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