Global North Must Slash Resource Hoarding by 70%

In 2015, global production systems used 90 billion tonnes (Bt/yr). High-income countries are the biggest over-users, hoarding metals, fossil fuels, and biomass through trade with the rest of the world. Between 1970 and 2017, they drove 74% of global resource overshoot, with the US alone responsible for 27%, and wealthier EU nations adding 25%. Meanwhile, China contributed 15%, and the entire Global South—Africa, Latin America, and Asia—just 8%. The high-income countries have far exceeded their “fair share”, blowing past the sustainable limit of 50 billion tonnes per year (Bt/yr) since 1997. To prevent more damage, they must cut consumption by 70%, from 32.7 Bt/yr to 8.1 Bt/yr. They owe this to the planet and to the countries that have contributed the least to the environmental crisis. Low-income countries, which use only 1.8 Bt/yr, can increase to 5.1 Bt/yr for a fair share.

Sources: Bringezu, S. (2015). Possible target corridor for sustainable use of global material resources. Resources, 4(1), 25-54; Hickel, J., O’Neill, D. W., Fanning, A. L., & Zoomkawala, H. (2022). National responsibility for ecological breakdown: a fair-shares assessment of resource use, 1970–2017. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(4), e342-e349; Image: University of Leeds. (2024). National Responsibility for Ecological Breakdown. A Good Life For All Within Planetary Boundaries.