| |
| |
|
| |
Why using resource
indicators?
Natural capital includes all the familiar
resources used by humankind : minerals, oil, water, trees,
fish, soil, air…..But it also encompasses living systems which
include grasslands, savannas, forests, oceans, marshlands,….
There is sufficient evidence that these are deteriorating
worldwide at an unprecedented rate.
The question is how much is enough and
how much is too much ?
|
| |
|
Key issues
Key parameters in these equation appear
to be :
The growing human population on Earth
The increasing level of economic activity (which on a material
based economy directly reflects consumption of natural capital)
The equitability in access to resources
Technological progress toward material and energy efficiency
Resource indicators allow to clearly
illustrating these issues.
Measuring the scale of the problems is very useful:
- to compare different levels of resource
consumption;
- to assess the current level of sustainability;
- to set objectives for change towards
more sustainability.
Two resource indicators illustrate different
aspects of the problem:
|
| |
|
The growing human
population on Earth
After growing very slowly for most of
human history, the world's population more than doubled in
the last half century and reached 6 billion in late 1999.
More people than ever are added to the world population each
year. Record numbers of youth mean that numbers will increase
for decades to come.
All of the projected growth will take
place in today's developing countries, which by 2050 will
account for over 85% of world population.
As Hawken and Lovins put it in Natural
Capitalism "With nearly ten thousand new people arriving
on earth every hour, a new and unfamiliar pattern of scarcity
is now emerging. At the beginning of the industrial revolution,
labor was overworked and relatively scarce (the population
was about one-tenth of current totals ), while global stocks
of natural capital where abundant and unexploited. But today
the situation has been reversed : after two centuries of rises
in labor productivity and the exploitation of living systems
as if they were free, infinite and in perpetual renewal, it
is the people who have become an abundant resource, while
nature is becoming disturbingly scarce."
Source: Natural
capitalism: creating the next industrial revolution, Paul
Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins, page 8
Did
you know? World population
|
| |
|
The increasing
level of economic activity
Since 1950, the global economy has more
than quintupled in size and the world's economy continues
to expand, growing by 4.1 per cent in 1997. In terms of income,
the global per capita average has now passed US$5 000 a year
- 2.6 times that of 1950 (in real terms).
This results in an increasing demand
for natural resources:
Economy: x 7 in 50 years
Paper: x 6 in 50 years
Water: x 6 in 70 years
CO2: x 12 en 100 years
More
figures : Humans, consumption and the environment
(18 pictures)
Sources :
|
| |
|
The equity in
accessing resources
The differences between rich and poor
people are huge. This means that they have different consumption
levels and also different impacts on the environment.
The 20% richest of world population are
responsible for 86% of economic activities and more than 50%
of CO2 emissions. The poorest 20% only represent 1.3% of the
economy and produce only 3% of world CO2 emissions.
Did you know? Chinese
Sources :
UNEP,
Geo-2000, Global perspectives
|
| |
|
The Ecological Footprint
To measure people's impact on the environment,
Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees have devised an "ecological
footprint" indicator. The ecological footprint estimates the
area required to produce the food a defined population consumes,
to sustain its energy consumption and give space for infrastructure.
The ecological footprint also includes the surface needed
to absorb the quantities of waste associated to consumption.
A striking advantage of the method is
that it helps making visible the share of Earth that one's
uses and to compare it to the area available in each countries.
This helps to calculate for each country the ecological deficit
or overshoot.
Calculated for countries, the footprints
allow comparing the renewable natural resource consumption
with nature biologically productive capacity in this country.
It shows which regions/countries are the heaviest consumers
of specific resources, on a per capita basis as well as in
absolute terms.
Since we only have one Planet, the available
area per person decreases in line with population growth.
Currently, with a total available productive area on Earth
of 11.4 billion hectares, the average available area per person
is 2 ha.
It was : 3 in 1970
3.8
in 1960
If all human beings lived like Europeans,
we would need 3 Earths to maintain the lifestyle of the world
population.
The WWF in
Living Planet Report has calculated the footprint for
countries based on the necessary surface areas necessary for
crop, grazing, forest, fishing, energy, infrastructure and
buildings.
Global figures show that since the 1980's,
humanity has been running an ecological deficit with the earth.
In 1999, average ecological footprint was estimated to 2.3
ha/pers. Approximately a 20% overshot compared to the available
average biological capacity on earth of 1.9 ha/pers. It can
be estimated that this overshot has resulted in the depletion
of the World natural ecosystems with loss of forest, of biodiversity,
over fishing, ozone layer depletion, climate change, …..
More :
|
| |
|
The Ecological
Rucksack
The ecological rucksack represents the
quantity of natural resources and of energy required over
product's lifespan:
- as raw materials,
- for manufacturing the product
- for marketing, buying and using the
product.
Some ecological rucksacks
:
| |
Own
weight
|
Rucksack
( solid material )
|
|
|
| 12
wine glasses |
2
kg
|
6
kg
|
| Wooden
bead necklace |
80
kg
|
500
g
|
| Coffee
maker ( Krups ) |
|
298
kg
|
| PC |
20kg
|
1,500
kg
|
| Tootbrush |
|
About
1.5 kg
|
| Plastic
bucket |
|
26
kg
|
| Gold
ring |
5
g
|
2,000
kg
|
Source:
Wuppertal
Institute and
Motiva Oy
|
|
| Silver
chain |
8
g
|
50.000
g
|
| Aluminium
beverage can |
|
1.200
g
|
| Jeans |
|
32kg
+ 8.000 litres water
|
| Car |
|
70.000
Kg
|
| Source:
MIPS-Test
|
Beverage containers of 0.33 litres
| |
Solid
material
( in kg )
|
Water
( in kg )
|
Air
( in kg )
|
Total
( in kg )
|
|
| Glass
bottle |
0.26
|
2.3
|
0.10
|
2.7
|
| Tinplate
can |
1.45
|
13.3
|
0.16
|
14.9
|
| Aluminium
can |
1.16
|
19.0
|
0.16
|
20.4
|
Source:
Der
Werkstoff Glas, Wuppertal Papers, Nr. 64 (Oktober 1996)
It is also possible to calculate ecological
rucksack for transportation modes. According to the Wuppertal
Institute, ecological rucksack for 1 passenger-km transport
by car, bus, tram and bike is as follows :
| |
Solid
material consumption
( in g )
|
Water
consumption
( in g )
|
Air
consumption
( in g )
|
|
| Car |
847
|
11240
|
218
|
| Bus |
460
|
4592
|
144
|
| Tram |
613
|
10329
|
76
|
| Bike |
162
|
5314
|
19
|
Source:
The
World Game - Every choice Makes a difference - Teachers' guide
for consumer and environmental education, Motiva & Kuluttaja
More:
|
| |
|
|
This
project has received support from the European Commission.
The content of this website reflects the author's view
and the European Commission is not liable for any use
that may be made of the information contained therein.
|
|
|
|
