Unit 3 - Global resource consumption + security

Earth overshoot day

The day when human demand for ecological resources and services exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate them in a whole year

Ecological footprint

Measure of the amount of land needed to supply resources and absorb waste

• Can be measured from global to individual scale

• Considers two aspects: bio capacity + demand

  • Bio capacity: biological capacity of an area/region/country to generate the resources and absorb waste e of a given population

  • Demand: amount of bio productive land we need to provide resources + space for infrastructure + to absorb waste we product

Global trends:

• Biocapacity of earth has increased eased slightly

  • Attributed to ability to exploit areas previously inaccessible like mountains - now can use farm land that was previously unproductive, as humans now aware of need for action

Things that lower an ecological footprint

• Renewable resources - wind, water, solar

• Limited private cars - walk, cycle, public transport

• Strict emissions policies to reduce pollution in atmosphere - cars, factories, power plants

• Limited air travel

• Recycled products - cars, clothes, containers

Things that increase ecological footprint

• Non renewables - fossil fuels are finite and create pollution and release carbon

• High private car ownership

• Limited emissions policies or ones that aren’t enforced

• Large amounts of air travel - still isn’t an alternative to oil based fuel for planes

• Always buying new things - require raw materials and energy to produce

Impact of settlements + infrastructure on ecological footprint

• Takes up a lot of space

• Less space for crops: less food can be grown, less biofuel, less

• Less space for natural environment to deal with waste products: green plants remove carbon dioxide with photosynthesis

• Less space for natural ecosystems: impact biodiversity negatively

Impact of forests on ecological footprint

• Forests provide timber and paper

• Sequester carbon dioxide

• slows impact of global climate change

• High rate of deforestation = higher EF

• Countries that reforest can decrease EF

Different types of footprint

• Carbon footprint: total amount of greenhouse gas emifssions caused by individual, city, event, flight, country = emitted through transport, land clearance, production and consumption

• Water footprint: amount of water in EF, includes water for washing and drinking (direct) and amount of water to grow food (indirect) = 800 litres of water to product 2 litre of milk

• Food footprint: way food intake impacts EF, land used in food production (crops, grass, animal feed), land needed to absorb carbon emissions produced during food production

CASE STUDY - Peru as a country in ecological surplus

How do they maintain low EF:

• Environment minister that uses international aid to reduce deforestation and environmental pollution

• Abundant natural resources

• Sustainable organisations help

• Signed Kyoto protocol

• Signed many wildlife protection agreements to maintain biodiversity + protection of endangered species

• Govt environmental department dedicate state funds

Problems in Peru:

• Deforestation bc of illegal logging

• Overgrazing —> soil erosion and desertification

• Air pollution in Lima

• Mining waste causing polluted waters

Global water availability

• 97.3% of water is in oceans and other salty bodies

• 0.007% = fresh water available for human consumption

• 68.9% of fresh watered is locked. Up in ice caps and glaciers, rest is groundwater or lakes

• Source of almost all water we use = precipitation

• Third source of water: desalination

  • Saudi Arabia remove salts from sea water to make fit for human use

• Renewable water: drawn from rivers and groundwater without exceeding rate of replacement from precipitation + melting

• Non renewable water: water taken can’t be recharged by rain, extraction rates exceed recharge rates, water bodies are polluted

• Africa has highest level of economic water scarcity

Global food availability

Surplus Regions: These are countries or areas that produce more food than they consume, often becoming major exporters.

USA

• One of the largest agricultural producers globally.

• Key exports: wheat, corn

• Benefits from highly mechanized farms and advanced biotechnology (e.g., GMOs).

European Union

• Especially France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain.

• Modern farming infrastructure, excellent roads, and trade access support distribution.

• Diverse climates allow production of a wide range of crops.

Deficit Regions: These areas do not produce enough food to feed their populations, often relying on imports or aid.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Some of the world’s highest rates of food insecurity.

• Causes:

  • Unpredictable rainfall and drought-prone regions (e.g., Sahel).

  • Soil degradation and desertification.

  • Political instability and conflict (e.g., Sudan, Somalia).

  • Limited access to modern agricultural technology and poor infrastructure.

South Asia (e.g., parts of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan)

• Rapid population growth can outpace food production.

• Monsoon dependence creates vulnerability.

• Urbanization and land use changes reduce available agricultural land.

Global water consumption

Divided into three categories

• Agricultural: used for irrigation, livestock, aquaculture

  • Agricultural consumption in LICs is most

• Industrial: cooling in electricity generation, water in manufacturing processes (food, clothes, chemicals)

  • Industrial is most in HICs

• Domestic (municipal): refers to all uses of water in home = washing, cooking, cleaning

  • Relatively low in both - slightly higher in HICs

Increasing population = higher demand

• Domestic use increases with more people

  • Increasing standards of living = more domestic use

• Agricultural use increases with more people needing to be fed

• Dietary changes to meat-based = production of mean consumes more water than fruit and vegetables

• Industrialisation in LICs = more industrial water consumption

• Urbanisation = further investment into development of infrastructure use to provide water resources

Embedded water in food + manufactured goods

• Water we don’t necessarily realise we use but its in stuff we use

• T shirt = 2650 litres of water

Global food consumption

• Food consumption is generally measured by a unit of energy - we eat to gain energy we need

• Amount of calories we eat depends on: age (more calories at different stages), gender (women need fewer), climate (colder climate burn energy to maintain body temp - need more cals)

• Few people receive insufficient calories - most North America, Europe, Australasian, South America, Asia overconsume calories

  • HIC have issue of obesity

• Majority lack sufficient calories = Sub-Saharan Africa: poverty, droughts and floods, war, food waste

• Sub-Saharan africa: farmers cannot improve production fast enough to meet increasing demand

• Increased globalisation: ability to move food between countries increases = variety of food, availability of food out of season, greater demand for ethically produced environmentally friendly produce, demand for meat consumption

Global energy availability

Major Energy Producers

Middle East (e.g., Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq)

• Huge oil and gas reserves.

• Most production is for export (key role in OPEC).

• Economies heavily dependent on fossil fuel revenues.

Russia

• World's largest exporter of natural gas, also significant oil production.

• Supplies large portions of Europe (creating geopolitical dependence).

• Has pipelines stretching to Asia and Europe.

Major Energy Consumers

China

• Largest total energy consumer.

• Rapid industrialization, urbanization, and rising living standards drive demand.

• Big push into renewables but still relies heavily on coal.

European Union

• High overall energy consumption.

• Efforts to shift to renewables

• Still imports much of its energy, especially gas from Russia (though this is changing).

Global energy consumption

• Energy production is driven by demand

• Energy consumption is impacted by:

  • type of industrial activity that is dominant in a country (primary sectors -mining- and secondary sectors -plastics manufacturing- are high, tertiary and quaternary are service-based so consumption is lower)

  • climate (cold requires heating, hot for cooling)

  • development (higher levels of disposable income for washing machines, technical equipment)

• Renewable energy is reliant on the resource it uses: hydropower for high rainfall areas, solar is common in lower latitude (more solar radiation), geothermal for tectonic and volcanic activity, wind is fairly distributed

Water-energy-food nexus

• Water security, food security, and energy security are linked and our actions in one area will have impacts on the other two

• Security means ACCESS not availability

• Climate change amplifies water-related risks - drought, floods

• SDGs: Goal 2 End Hunger, Goal 6 Ensure access to water and sanitation, Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable reliable and sustainable energy for all

Water security

• Access to sufficient, sustainable quantities of clean water and sanitation. Sufficient means enough water to sustain livelihoods, wellbeing, food supply, protection from contaminated water

• Food production relies on water

• Energy uses water to cool or for hydropower or production of solar panels and turbines requires water

• 30% of world’s population does not have access to improved sanitation

• 3 million children die each year of water-related diseases = 5.7 children dying each minute from preventable causes

• water scarcity encourages poor storage —> water contamination and breeding grounds for mosquitos carrying malaria

Causes of insecurity:

• gap between supply and demand

• growing populations put direct strain on water resources + indirect through strain on food and energy

• water pollution causes water scarcity cuz no longer fit for human consumption

• droughts are more frequent and long causing water insecurity

Strategies to improve water security

• Increase supply through: desalination action, grey-water recycling (cannot be drunk but can be used for toilet flushing) and fog harvesting (in Peru)

• Increase storage: reservoirs, rainfall harvesting schemes, artificial glaciers (ice stupa in Himalayas)

• Decrease demand: water conservation (inc water efficiency through tech), raising awareness (public campaigns, education in schools, economic incentives like increasing cost of water, introduce legislation, reduce meat based diets)

Food security

• When all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food which meets dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life

• Malnourishment and child mortality is highest in sub Saharan Africa

• 148 million children are stunted by malnutrition

• 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet = 35%

• If current trends continue = 582 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030 - HALF IN AFRICA

• Availability: food must be physically available

• Access: people must have physical and economic means to get food - controlled by personal income, food prices, and access to land to grow food or shops to buy in

• Utilisation: must be able to make the most of the nutrients in the food they eat

• Stability: food must be available able, accessibly and usable at all times

Causes of food insecurity:

• We currently produce enough food to feed 10 billion people so food insecurity shouldn’t be a problem but:

  • Physical

    • food distribution network are inadequate to rural areas

    • Land grabbing = large business investors take over traditionally owned family farms

  • Human

    • increasing population = PRESSURE

    • Food Wastage - can occur at all stages: harvest, processing, package, transport, food prep

    • HICs consume much more than necessary - indirectly ‘stealing’ from LICs

Strategies to improve food security:

1. Agriculture: green revolution, improved water supply through improved irrigation techniques, mechanisation in all areas of production. solar irrigation (draws water from wells and rivers - with sun)

2. Economic + Political: Provide subsidies or credit access to smallholder farmers, Promote fair trade and access to local and global markets, Develop transport and storage infrastructure, Reduce trade barriers and import dependency, Establish national food reserves or grain banks,

3. Human/social: food wastage needs to be saved, decreased calorie consumption is down to education and awareness campaigns

Energy security

• Access to clean, sustainable, reliable, affordable, modern energy to meet needs of all sectors including domestic, commerce, industry, municipal and communications

  • Reliability: energy supply is consistent and uninterrupted

  • Access ability: everyone has physical access to an adequate modern energy supply - supply meets demand

  • Affordability: available at a price everyone in the population can afford to pay for

• Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Canada = 30% of global oil supply

• China, USA, India = 60% of coal supply

• USA, Russia, Iran = 45% of natural gas

• 9.4% of global population lacks access to electricity

• 2.1 billion still rely on damaging cooking fuels

• Despite progress, world remains off course to achieve SDG 7 - affordable and clean energy by 2030

• West Africa: Sierra Leone - little less than 2 decades after civil war ended only 5% of population had access to electricity - rural areas = 1%

• HICs are also affected by energy insecurity unlike FOOD and WATER

• USA is large risk because it has to import large amounts of fossil fuels and electricity to meet demand - leaves them vulnerable to interruption of supply and price increases

• Japan is high risk due to 2011 earthquake and Tsunami that caused Fukushima accident

Causes of energy insecurity:

• fossil fuel depletion: is a finite resource and is predicted end to completely run out in 2091

• reliance on imports: many LICs need to use own energy sources like oil for own development so they don’t have enough to export (Venezuela),

• geopolitical concerns: oil is located in politically unstable areas like Middle East - can threaten supply, war in supply country interrupts exports, terrorist attacks on oil fields or supply infrastructure is always a risk

• Natural disaster: disrupt energy supplies - Fukushima Nuclear power station 2011 caused energy insecurity for Japan - Govt closed all nuclear reactors which dropped supply by 31%

Strategies to improve energy security

• Reducing imports and becoming more self-sufficient in energy supply:

  • diversification of energy sources + increasing use of alternatives to fossil fuels

  • reducing demand by increase energy efficiency and energy conservation measures

• Reducing reliance on exporting countries + using multiple exporters - spreading out risk of energy insecurity

CASE STUDY - iceland is energy secure

• 86% (66% geo + 20% hydro) of energy needs are from geothermal and hydropower - 14% fossil fuels

• Iceland in recent years also invested in wind power - DIVERSIFYING energy sources

• Fossil fuels used for vehicles, boats and some industrial purposes

Renewable energy usage by countries

• Sweden = solar, wind energy, energy storage, clean transport

• 97% of Scotland’s domestic energy came from wind power

• Denmark aims to be 100% fossil-fuel by 2050 through wind power

CASE STUDY - Security in CH

Water security:

• ‘Water rich’ with lots of annual rainfall

• 6% of Europes drinking water resources are in CH

• Glaciers = main water source

Food Security:

• produces over 60% of own food

• High food security is possible due to high water security

Energy Security:

• imports 85% of energy

• country relies on trade for energy security —> vulnerable to geopolitical

• investing in energy research and development

• 60% Hydropower energy

• nuclear, natural gas, imported petroleum for cars since CH doesn’t produce fossil fuels

Environmental impact:

• CH resource consumption exceeds biocapacity - 3 earths needed if everyone lived like Swiss

Climate change:

• CC melt glaciers - affect water security

Geopolitical stability: neutral, stable = contributing factor to resource security

CASE STUDY - Security in UAE

Water security:

• UAE = very water scarce

• 42% of potable water comes from DESALINATION

Food Security:

• imports over 90% of food needs

• less than 5% of land is arable (can be used to grow crops)

• aims to improve by 2051

Energy security:

• rich in fossil fuels - OIL - grow economy A LOT

• investing in renewable energy to diversify

• developing nuclear power to meet growing energy demands

Environmental impact:

• rising temperature + dust storm = threat

• CC affect traditional farming systems

Geopolitical factors:

• Food security is vulnerable to global supply chain disruption

TECH SOLUTIONS: investing in high-tech protected agriculture systems to overcome environmental challenges

Green revolution

• This revolution started a shift to new agricultural strategies and practices in order to increase food production with both positive and negative results until 1980s

• Mexico: was supported by govt, govt provided financial support and established ‘Mexican Agricultural Program’ to maximise the knowledge and technology gained by Green revolution, GREAT SUCCESS IN WHEAT PRODUCTION, application of fertiliser and pesticides = maintain success

• Sub-Saharan Africa: less successful bc of corruption, lack of investment by govts, lack of infrastructure, harsh climatic conditions, lack of water for irrigation, attempt to introduce new rice variety (NERICA) = LIMITED SUCCESS

Types of poverty

• Absolute poverty: Lack of money for basic needs: food, shelter, clothing

• Relative poverty: When people have inadequate financial resources and thus fall below prevailing standards of living in a society

• Income poverty: When family income is below nationally established poverty line/threshold

  • Varies between countries + significantly higher in HICs due to high cost of living

  • HIC CH: 81.5CHF per day

  • MIC India: 9 dollars per day

  • LIC Afghanistan: 2.15 dollars per day

Global middle class

• Non-manual workers , middle management and small business owners ears

• Earn more money than working class but less than upper middle class+ upper class

• People who have 33% of income left over after paid for essentials to buy consumer goods

• If becomes a stable middle glass - consumption + demand for goods increases —> positive feedback cycle

• Middle class drives social change bc influences economic development

  Tend to by educated - participate in politics + push for inclusive growth

• Asia - explosion of middle class

• North America - decrease

• South Korea middle class comprised over half of population

• Brazil has only 29% middle glass = not sufficient to drive shift to domestic consumption

Non-renewable

Natural resources that humans are using at a rate that exceeds their replacement - fossil fuels

ENERGIES:

Fossil fuels

• A: most economically viable

• D: finite, GHG emissions, large amounts of water needed, extraction and transportation is damaging in to environment

Nuclear energy

• A: workers are safer than coal miners, don’t produce GHG, economically viable

• D: high initial capital cost of construction, waste products are radioactive for MANY YEARS, potential for nuclear weapons, risk of nuclear accidents (Fukushima in 2011)

Renewable

Natural resources that humans are using at a rate that allows for their replacement - plants, animals

ENERGIES:

Hydropower

• Advan: dam construction increase water resources + reduce risk of flooding

• Disadvantage: high set-up costs + loss of terrestrial habitat

Wind

• A: low operational costs

• D: noise + visual pollution

Solar

• A: Low running costs + renewable

• D: no good at night

Geothermal

• A: sustainable - water used to produce steam can be used again

• D: limited to areas near volcanic activity

Consumer goods

• Anything that is bought to satisfy needs and wants of consumers

• No raw materials or goods that go to industry or business to make something else

Broken down into: durable, non-durable, services

1. Durable: Goods with long lifespan - cars, tv, appliances, furniture

1. Non-durable: Short lifespan - immediate consumption like food, drink, clothing, shoes

2. Services: Intangible actions like hair cuts, gardening, car servicing - NOT RELEVANT BC DONT PRODUCE WASTE THAT NEEDS TO BE DISPOSED OR RECYCLED

Ways to dispose consumer goods

• Landfill (Cheap, job opportunities, gases can be used for ‘waste-to-energy schemes BUT methane GHG, ocean pollution, poorly managed causes spread of diseases/rat/mice problems

• Incineration (reduce volume of waste which is helpful for where land is scarce (JAPAN), generate local heating (SWEDEN), retrieves metal which can be recycled BUT emit toxic metals, visual pollution, toxic air pollution emissions

• Composting (helpful to food waste, reduce landfill waste)

• Recycling: reduce, reuse, recycle

The “R’s”

• Reduce - amount of materials to make and package

• Reuse - This is reusing a product in the same context or in a different context.

• Recycle - Recycling refers to using the materials from obsolete products to create other products. 

• Recondition - Reconditioning is rebuilding a product so that it is in an “as new” condition, by repairing it, cleaning it, or replacing parts.

• Repair - Is the reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing structure or device.

• Recover - materials from products when no longer useful

Ways to implement

• Take reusable bags, containers = many now refuse plastic bags, containers common for leftovers

• Choose products that are refillable = in theory is effective but not many products have this feature available

• Compost = possible if outdoor area available not in high-density housing situations (collection may not be available)

• Buy items made from recycled materials = supporting sustainable businesses + seen as ‘trendy’

• Donate electrical items to schools or NGOs = many areas have collection points (successful) but some people may be hesitant if personal data can be retrieved from old devices

CASE STUDY - International flows of waste - Germany + Sweden

• Some are mutually beneficial = Germany and Sweden import waste from other EU countries to keep ‘waste-to-energy’ going

• Sweden recycles 47% of waste and burns 52% for heat generation

• Problem: no longer enough rubbish to meet the needs of the heating plants - Sweden imports over 800,000 tons of rubbish from UK and Norway

• Germany recycles 65% of waste so plants are short of rubbish to burn - import rubbish from Italy, UK, Ireland, Switzerland

Issues with incinerators:

• Incinerators are great to reduce waste pile by up to 85%

• Reduce waste to pile of ash containing heavy metals, glass, rubble, sand, concrete,…

Ship breaking

• Ship breaking is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of parts (sold for re-use) or for extraction of raw materials

• In HICs this process is expensive and carefully controlled

• Happens on a dry dock where health and environmental issues are high priority

• Valuable raw mateials are retrieved and recycled, hazardous are handles with appropriate measures

E-waste

• RAPIDLY GROWING CONCERN:

  • bc rapidly advancing technology (other devices become outdated and tossed)

  • falling prices (tech improvements = lower prices = more people can get)

  • planned obsolescence (manufacturers deliberately design products to be out fo date within a certain period of time)

• USA is highest annual producer of e-wasted = 7.1 million tonnes

• African nations as a whole produce very little e-waste

• life expectancy is lower in areas they deal with breaking apart e-waste = toxic fumes

• ‘designed for the dump’

• many risks involved with miners getting materials, manufacturers processing them, and the people that then break them down again

• LICs are targeted because they don’t have the laws in place

• Agbogbloshie, district in Accra, Ghana

  • - Landfill site that processes electronic waste

    CHILDREN WORK THERE

• ORDEE in CH to help e-waste management

  • Take back products FREE OF CHARGE

    Electrical and electronic appliances

    Retailers obligated to take back disused appliances from their product range

• Solutions to e-waste problem

  • extend producer responsibility

  • They are held liable, and companies will then invest more time into making product more reliable with less toxic substances so that they don’t have to deal with it

  • Make products MODULAR - if product breaks u only have to replace the one area and not the whole thing

  • Strengthen legislation that targets manufacturers

  • Designers should compete to make long lasting products

Carrying capacity

• the maximum number of individuals of a species that the environment can sustainable support in a given area

• When applied to humanity: how many people earth can sustainably support

Difference between human + animal carrying capacity

• we produce non-biodegradable waste causing environmental degradation

• resources we use are very varied - other animals just use necessities but we use luxuries - demand for both of these varies by country

• we can move goods around the world - import food from another region id not enough here

• employ tech that can change the environment

• we can control fertility and mortality

Theories

Malthusian theory

• Thomas Malthus

• Human population grows more rapidly than the food supply - that is until famines, war or disease reduces the population

• Criticisms

  • predictions haven’t happened in HICs because population growth rates are not that rapid + advances in tech have changed situation

  • model only shows food as resource

  • model assumes that increasing living standards = increased birth rates NOT THE CASE

Neo-malthusian

• Paul Ehrlich

• Still pessimistic but emphasis on promoting population control programmes to ensure sustainability with resources for present needs and future needs

• Support the use of contraception + concerned with environmental degradation and widespread famine

• suggest ‘responsibility prizes’ for those who do not have children and for men with vasectomies

Boserup

• Ester Boserup

• The threat of starvation ion motivates agricultural innovation

• Truth is that there is enough food globally to feed everyone, with some surplus. Famine is still a problem due to poor distribution networks and NOT inadequate production

  

• Famous optimist quote: ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ by plato - mena sthat when put into a difficult situation, one will be inspired to create a novel solution

Resource stewardship + sustainability

• Resource stewardship: focuses on the sustainable use of renewable resources so that future generations can benefit from them

• Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet the needs of their own

• Made and transported using renewable energy

• Strategies for resource stewardship:

Circular economy

• Products designed so they can be disassembled and reused - stops loss of embedded energy and labour and water

• Raw materials - Production - use - recycling —> BACK TO RAW MATERIALS

• Try to keep resources in system as long as possible

• PubliBike EXAMPLE

  • In Ch

  • Put in credit card details and use bike

  • Regular or electric options - suitable for different genders, age, physical activity level

  • Reduce carbon footprint compared to plane or car

  • Don’t have to keep it if you don’t use it all the time

  • RENT

  • Much cheaper than buying a full bike that you aren’t gonna use a lot

  • UK VERSION IS LIME BIKES + SCOOTERS

• MUDJEANS

  • Less than 1% of new clothing is recycled

  • MUDJEANS are made up of 40% recycled led content - discarded jeans

  • Can be purchased or leased for 7.50 euros a month

  • Returned at any time if broken and can be swapped with new jeans

  • The materials from the broken one can be used to make new jeans or they can be repaired

  • All returns are free

  • Packaging of jeans are bags that can be used over 20 bags + can be retuned in mailbox

  • Saves up to 80% of carbon emissions compared to normal packaging

• BLOCSY

  • Lego meets Ikea

  • Can make ur desired furniture without needing drills or anything img

  • Using very minimal materials to make minimal but effective furniture

  • Can be rented by students

  • Small business using recycled materials

  • Use throughout lifetime - kids table to coffee tables,..

SDGs

Aim of SDGs

• Call to action to end poverty and inequality, protect the planet, ensure all people enjoy health, justice and prosperity

  1. Economic growth

  2. Social inclusion

  3. Environmental protection

  17 Goals to be achieved by 2030

• SDG 2

  • Zero Hunger: end hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition, promote sustainable agriculture

  • Target: end malnutrition by improving social programmes to make sure sufficient food is always available + increases agriculture production and prevent problems affecting yields like drought or flooding

  • Present status: 1 in 11 people are undernourished as of 2024 = 733 million people

• SDG 6

  • Clean water and sanitation: ensure access to watered and sanitation for all

  • Target: ensure everyone has access to safe watered and sanitation + reduce water contamination ion and protect and restore water-related ecosystems

  • Present Status: recent UN data = 73% of global population ion has access to safely managed drinking water services

• SDG 7

  • Affordable and clean energy: ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

  • Target: Develop and increases the use of renewable energy

  • Present status: 685 million people were without electricity access = 8.6% of global population = improvement to 20% in 2015

• SDG 12

  • Responsibly consumption and production: ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

  • Target: Halve the amount of food waste and reduce, reuse and recycle resources + promote sustainable lifestyles

  • Present Status: 1.05 bullion tonnes of food is wasted annually (most recent data is from 2022) + households waste at least one billion meals a day BIG SCALE PROBLEM

• SDG 13

  • Climate action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

  • Target: Ensure people are adequately prepared for natural hazards + ensure govts tackle climate change and provide resources to combat it

  • Present Status: in 2023 natural disasters affected over 95 million people globally = 1.2% of total population + 417 natural disasters annually on average

What are the global trends and causes of disparities in water, food, and energy consumption?

• Trends: Overall increase in demand due to population growth and economic development.

• Disparities: HICs use more per capita due to tech and lifestyle; LICs have lower access due to poverty, weak infrastructure, and political instability.

How does climate change impact resource security (water, food, energy)?

• Climate change increases water scarcity (droughts), lowers food yields (unreliable weather), and disrupts energy (e.g., hydropower).

• It threatens all three types of security and increases pressure on vulnerable regions.