OVERCONSUMPTION? Our use of the world´s natural resources This repOrT was financially suppOrTed by Working Committee “Forum mineralische Rohstoffe” of the Austrian association for building materials and ceramic industries Federal Environment Agency, Germany SUPPORTED BY Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland CREDITS: RESEARCH: Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI), Austria and GLOBAL 2000 (Friends of the Earth Austria) – IN COOPERATION WITH: Institute for Economic Structures Research (GWS), Germany – TEXT: Stefan Giljum, Friedrich Hinterberger, Martin Bruckner, Eva Burger, Johannes Frühmann, Stephan Lutter, Elke Pirgmaier, Christine Polzin, Hannes Waxwender, Lisa Kernegger, Michael Warhurst – INFO-GRAPHICS: Roswitha Peintner ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We thank Nicky Stocks, Becky Slater, Kenneth Richter and Hannah Griffiths from Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FoE EWNI) as well as Christian Lutz and Bernd Meyer from GWS for their assistance with the content of this report. – EDITING: Becky Slater and Michael Warhurst – PRODUCTION: Lisa Kernegger and Stefan Giljum – DESIGN: Hannes Hofbauer – PHOTO-EDITING: Steve Wyckoff – PHOTOS: Jiri Rezac/WWF-UK (p5), iStockphoto (p8, p11, p16, p18, p21, p22, p25, p28, p31), Elaine Gilligan/FoE EWNI (p12), Asociación Civil LABOR (p13), Aulia Erlangga/FoE EWNI (p14), Michael Common/Green Net (p19), Michael Warhurst/FoE EWNI (p30, p32), Cover: iStockphoto – PRINTING: Janetschek, A-3860 Heidenreichstein, www.janetschek.at – PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER © SERI, GLOBAL 2000, Friends of the Earth Europe, September 2009 2 | OVERCONSUMPTION? Our use of the world’s natural resources execuTive summary atural resources, including materials, water, energy and Europe thus benefits from a major transfer of resources N fertile land, are the basis for our life on Earth. However, from poorer, low consuming countries to richer, high con- humanity’s rapidly growing consumption of these resources suming countries. The current world trade system helps is causing severe damage. Our climate is changing; fresh support substantial inequalities in the distribution of the water reserves, fish stocks and forests are shrinking; fertile use of natural resources. This raises important questions land is being destroyed and species are becoming for global justice. extinct. In order to continue to thrive on this planet, our lifestyles will need to become more sustainable, so that The world economy today uses around 30% fewer we are able to protect our natural resource base and resources to produce one Euro or Dollar of GDP than the fragile eco-systems on our planet. We consider that 30 years ago; however, overall resource use is still it is essential to start a debate about European resource increasing. Resource efficiency has improved steadily in use and its environmental and social impacts around the Europe and globally. However, as we consume growing world. In order to help facilitate this debate, this report amounts of products and services, this positive trend is more aims to provide a compilation of information on current than outweighed by the overall growth of our economies. trends in European and global resource use. This report focuses on biotic and abiotic materials, and is intended In order to create a more sustainable and equitable to be the first in a series of reports on different aspects of world, regions with high levels of per-capita resource natural resource use. use, such as Europe, will need to sharply decrease their resource use in absolute terms. This reduction Humans today extract and use around 50% more in resource use in richer regions will give poorer regions natural resources than only 30 years ago, at about the chance to increase their resource use as they overcome 60 billion tonnes of raw materials a year. This is poverty and increase their quality of life. This principle is equivalent to the weight of around 41,000 Empire State already well established in the global debate on climate Buildings. Increasing resource extraction doesn’t just lead targets, and it needs to be extended to the area of resource to environmental problems, but is often also linked to use. social problems such as human rights violations and poor working conditions. These negative environmental and Short-term actions can get Europe and other rich social impacts are most strongly felt in African, Latin countries on the right track. These include implementing American and Asian countries with low environmental policy measures that increase the prices of natural resour- and social standards. Given current trends of growth, our ces and reward resource-efficient behaviour, exploiting extraction of natural resources could increase to 100 resource efficiency within companies, increasing recycling billion tonnes by 2030. and informing consumers about their options to reduce the use of natural resources. People in rich countries consume up to 10 times more natural resources than those in the poorest countries. More fundamental questions about economics, deve- On average, an inhabitant of North America consumes lopment and resources need to be addressed in the around 90 kilograms (kg) of resources each day. In Europe, medium term. Most significantly, “How can new models of consumption is around 45 kg per day, while in Africa development be created in Europe and other industrialised people consume only around 10 kg per day. countries that focus on well-being instead of increased production and consumption?” This will require rethinking With almost 3 tonnes per capita per year, Europe is the the role of economic growth and the links between resource continent with the highest net-imports of resources. use, quality of life and happiness. OVERCONSUMPTION? Our use of the world’s natural resources | 3 Table Of cOnTenTs 1. INTrODUCTiOn ............................................................................................................................................................... 5 2. THE HISTORY Of HUMAN RESOURCE USE ....................................................................................................... 7 3. EXTRACTiOn Of RESOURCES .................................................................................................................................. 9 4. TRADE IN RESOURCES .............................................................................................................................................. 15 5. cONSUMPTiOn Of RESOURCES ......................................................................................................................... 20 6. RESOURCE EFFICIENCY ............................................................................................................................................ 23 7. SCENARIOs fOr FUTURE RESOURCE USE ..................................................................................................... 26 8. TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE USE ...................................................................................................... 29 LIST Of CASE sTUDIES OIL EXTRACTiOn AND GAS FLARING IN THE NIGER DELTa ........................................................................ 12 cOPPER MINING AND SMELTING IN PERU .......................................................................................................... 13 PALM OIL PRODUCTiOn IN INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA .............................................................................. 14 SUBSIDISED EUROPEAN MILK FLOODING THE MARKeT IN BURKINA FASO ...................................... 18 EXPOrT Of FAIR TRADE OrGANIC hOm MALI (JASMINE RICE) FROm THAILAND .......................... 19 mOBILE PHONES: RELATIVE IMPROVEMENTs, BUT ABSOLUTe GrOwTh ........................................... 25 RECYCLING in FLANDERS ............................................................................................................................................ 32 4 | OVERCONSUMPTION? Our use of the world’s natural resources 1. inTrOducTiOn ur life is based on natural resources. Natural resources O in the form of materials, water and energy, as well as the land available to us on Earth, are the basis of all living beings on our planet. We humans are also part of nature. Without the constant use of natural resources, neither our economy nor our society could function. Nature provides humans with all resources necessary for life: energy for heat, electricity and mobility; wood for furniture and paper products; cotton for clothing; construction materials for our roads and houses; food and pure water for a healthy diet. However, the natural resource base our societies are built on is in severe danger of overexploitation and collapse. Due to the growth of world population, continued high levels of resource consumption in the developed world and rapid industrialisation of countries such as China, India and Brazil, worldwide demand on natural resources and related economic model in Europe and other developed countries pressures on the environment are steadily increasing. to all the seven billion people alive today, or to the ten billion people predicted for the middle of this century is Many of the problems that threaten mankind’s survival on neither environmentally possible nor can it be economically the planet result from the increased consumption of energy, and socially sustained. water and raw materials, the increased production of waste and emissions