Sustainability and Social Justice: Do the Math

According to data compiled by the UN, the Global Footprint Network, and Dr. William Rees at the University of British Columbia, total human consumption already exceeds the Earth’s capacity by 30 per cent. This is known as biological ‘overshoot’. The UN estimates that most natural services to human societies – forests, fish, fresh water and clean air – decline annually. As human population and consumption grow, our collective overshoot increases.

Meanwhile, the wealthy 15 per cent use about 85 per cent of the resources – the total energy and materials – the ’stuff’ – that Earth provides. The ‘wealthy’ includes anyone who has a home, job, transport, access to education, hot showers, convenient fuel and food every day: people in the so-called ‘developed’ world. If you have those things, you live among the wealthy 15 per cent who use most of the world’s resources.

There is more to social change than the biophysical numbers, but any serious ecologist or justice advocate needs to know how resource overshoot limits our choices to achieve sustainability and social equality. Let’s do the math.

Vancouver Observer