Equity and Social Consequences of Raising Resource Efficiency

Abstract What hope is there for this planet if the countries of the Global South start to consume resources as the Global North does today? Or if the vast numbers of poor in our world demand the same things the rich few already have? They are not only entitled to do so under any concept of fairness and justice but are also being encouraged to do so by the forces of the global market. What will be the demographic, economic and environmental impact in the longer term if poverty and marginalisation in the economy of our world further delay the stabilisation of its population? The goal of creating a better world for all clearly cannot be reached with today’s urban-industrial lifestyles or existing material-financial aspirations. Nor can they be reached with the disparities we have created within and between countries. Sustainable development implies not only efficient and ecologically sound management of resources but also the need to establish social equity and political empowerment. The affluent tend to over-consume “non-renewable” resources; the poor, out of the exigency of survival, tend to over-consume “renewable” resources such as soils, biomass and forests, often making them non-renewable in time frames relevant to human lives.