overconsumption--2009

Figure 13: Resource extraction (darker column) and resource consumption (lighter column)in kg per US$ of GDP, 2000 (xii) Africa is the continent with the highest resource intensity,with countries needing almost 7 kg of domestic resourcesto produce one Dollar of GDP. This is due to the fact thatresource-intensive economic activities, such as mining andagriculture, are dominant in the African economy andthe technologies these countries use are less efficientthan those in other world regions. However, Africa is anet-exporter of resources (see Figures 6 and 7 in Chapter 4),so many of the resources Africa extracts are consumed inother countries. Therefore, resource consumption in Africais less resource intensive than resource extraction (lessthan 5 kg).Natural resources also play an important role in the economiesof Latin America and Oceania (in particular, Australia).Consequently, their resource intensity is also above theworld average. These countries also have high exports ofresources to other world regions. Consequently, resourceintensity of extraction (around 3 kg per Dollar) is higher thanresource intensity of consumption (around 2 kg per Dollar).The reverse trends can be observed for Europe and NorthAmerica. With less than 1 kg of resource use per Dollar, theseeconomic regions are relatively more resource efficient, asservice sectors are the largest component of GDP. Services,such as banking or health care, are less resource intensivethan mining, agriculture or manufacturing. However, Europeand North America need resources from other worldregions to maintain their economic system. Resourceintensity is therefore higher for resource consumption thanfor resource extraction.The “rebound effect”: eating up efficiency gains. Theremarkable technological progress we have witnessed overrecent decades, which has allowed us to use raw materialsand energy ever more efficiently, will not solve the environmentalproblems related to resource use. One key reason forthis is the so-called “rebound effect”. 31 When enterprisesuse less energy and fewer materials to produce their productsand services, the production costs decrease. Lowerproduction costs, in turn, lower the price of the productor service. And lower prices for consumers mean that – withthe same budget – consumers can purchase more ofthe cheaper product or other products. Rising resourceefficiency therefore often increases the demand for naturalresources, as the case study on mobile phones illustrates.This rebound effect therefore means that there isn’t anoverall reduction in resource consumption.24 | OVERCONSUMPTION? Our use of the world’s natural resources