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World resource consumption will triple by 2050
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
Global consumption of natural resources could triple by 2050 to reach 140 billion tons per year, warns the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Experts note that the planet is not capable of supporting the observed growth in the use of minerals and ores, fossil and plant fuels, and we have known all this for a long time. Alas, it seems that people who belong to the category of "decision makers" do not know this. For them, economic growth is directly linked to an increase in the rate of resource consumption. The UN calls for separating these concepts. Especially since by 2050 there will already be 9.3 billion of us, and today's developing countries will turn into prosperous ones, and they will also buy expensive, advertised computers only to smash them in front of the camera and post a 3D video on YouTube.
UNEP notes that cheap and high-quality sources of some essential materials are already running out. First of all, we are talking, of course, about oil, copper and gold. Of course, obtaining such materials in the future will require greater volumes of fuel and water. It is time to learn to do more with less, then production will not depend on economic growth, but will outpace it.
Today, people in rich countries consume an average of 16 tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass products per year. In some countries, this figure is 40 tons. At the same time, the average Indian consumes only 4 tons.
The UN is calling for an immediate freeze on consumption in rich countries and a serious rethink of investing in technological, financial and social innovation. “People are convinced that the environmental price we pay for economic wealth is a necessary evil. We can no longer and must not act as if there is no trade-off,” cries UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
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