¿CONSUMIMOS DEMASIADO? CÓMO UTILIZAMOS LOS RECURSOS NATURALES DEL PLANETA

The report analyzes the escalating extraction and consumption of natural resources, highlighting a stark divide between wealthy and poor regions. It argues that while resource efficiency has improved, absolute consumption continues to rise due to economic growth, a phenomenon termed the 'rebound effect'. The document emphasizes the environmental degradation and social injustices resulting from resource extraction in the Global South, and calls for a transition toward development models based on well-being rather than constant material growth.

• Global extraction of natural resources has increased by approximately 50% over the last 30 years, reaching about 60 billion tonnes annually.
• There is a significant disparity in resource consumption: a resident of North America consumes about 90 kg of resources per day, compared to 45 kg in Europe and 10 kg in Africa.
• Europe is the continent with the highest net imports of resources, averaging nearly three tonnes per capita per year, which reinforces global inequalities in resource distribution.
• Although the global economy is more resource-efficient—using about 30% fewer resources to produce a unit of GDP than 30 years ago—total resource use continues to rise because economic growth outweighs efficiency gains.
• The 'rebound effect' occurs when technological efficiency lowers production costs and prices, which in turn increases consumer demand and prevents an absolute reduction in resource use, as seen with mobile phones.
• Resource extraction often leads to severe social and environmental impacts in developing countries, such as gas flaring in Nigeria's Niger Delta, copper mining in Peru, and palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia.
• Under a 'business-as-usual' scenario, global natural resource extraction could reach 100 billion tonnes by 2030, nearly doubling 2005 levels.
• The world is currently overexploiting its biological capacity, using approximately 30% more biocapacity than global ecosystems can sustainably provide.
• To achieve a sustainable future, high-consumption regions like Europe must drastically reduce their absolute resource use to allow poorer regions to improve their quality of life.
• The region of Flanders in Belgium demonstrates that a combination of selective collection, composting, and landfill taxes can lead to urban waste recycling rates exceeding 70%.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (n.d.). ¿CONSUMIMOS DEMASIADO? CÓMO UTILIZAMOS LOS RECURSOS NATURALES DEL PLANETA. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Consumimos_demasiado.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. ¿CONSUMIMOS DEMASIADO? CÓMO UTILIZAMOS LOS RECURSOS NATURALES DEL PLANETA. n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Consumimos_demasiado.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=¿CONSUMIMOS DEMASIADO? CÓMO UTILIZAMOS LOS RECURSOS NATURALES DEL PLANETA |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Consumimos_demasiado.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternationalndconsumimos, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{¿CONSUMIMOS DEMASIADO? CÓMO UTILIZAMOS LOS RECURSOS NATURALES DEL PLANETA}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Consumimos_demasiado.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }