Humanity's voracious appetite for resources, from food and fuel to metals and gravel, is pushing the planet to its limits by accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, a major United Nations report says, calling for urgent action for societies to live within their means.
A growing global population, consumer lifestyles and rising demand for food, especially animal-based diets, are the main drivers of the spiralling demand for resources, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says in its Global
Resource Outlook report released on March 1. The Asia-Pacific is a major driver of booming resource use.
"The triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution is driven from a crisis of unsustainable consumption and production. We must work with nature, instead of merely exploiting it," said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.
The report looks at the consumption of biomass, such as agriculture and forestry, fossil fuels, metal ores and non-metallic minerals, such as gravel, sand and clay.
Material resource use since 1970 has grown from 30 billion tonnes to a projected 106.6 billion tonnes in 2024 - or from 23kg to 39kg of materials used on average per person per day. Over the past 20 years, rising affluence explains 40 per cent of the global increase in material extraction, while population growth contributed to 27 per cent, the report says.
Esta historia es de la edición March 02, 2024 de The Straits Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición March 02, 2024 de The Straits Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Something has changed inside North Korea
Troops to Russia, signs of an imminent nuclear test and death sentences for K-pop.
Fighting in the gutter: Cautionary lessons from America's vicious election campaign
There is a price to be paid for decades of ever-coarser negative campaigning in the US.
ITE students stand to gain from tie-up with financial institutions
Over 50 students on internship scheme; more partnerships set to be explored
Ringgit set for worst month in nine years amid US election jitters
MANILA - Malaysia's currency is on course for its worst month in more than nine years as investors scale back on risk assets amid concerns over the US election.
Aussie watchdog sues Singtel-owned Optus over alleged sales misconduct
Australia's competition watchdog is taking Singtel-owned Optus to court, alleging it engaged in misconduct while selling mobile phones and plans, particularly to vulnerable customers.
China carmakers told to halt investment in EU nations backing EV tariffs
China has told its carmakers to halt big investment in European countries that support extra tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles (EVs), two people briefed about the matter said, a move likely to further divide Europe.
DHL, Salesforce among 50 lauded as top workplaces here
Need for trust among workers and leaders a key lesson from surveys over past 10 years
BYD sales eclipse Tesla's for first time as EV giants face off
HONG KONG - BYD notched up another win over Tesla, reporting quarterly revenue beating that of Mr. Elon Musk's carmaker for the first time since the pair went head-to-head in global electric vehicle (EV) sales.
Vanke posts $1.5b loss in Q3 as China's property crisis persists
China Vanke posted another massive loss in the third quarter, underscoring the pressure on the property developer as it tries to pay off debt amid the country's prolonged housing slump.
S. Korea's chip production falls for first time in over a year
South Korea's semiconductor production fell from a year earlier for the first time in more than a year, in another sign that a boom cycle fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) development worldwide may be starting to cool.