Centro de Ciências do Mar do Algarve, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Building 7, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
Department of Economic History and Institutions, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Mar 10;811:151359. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151359. Epub 2021 Nov 4.
The metabolism of contemporary industrialized societies, that is their energy and material flows, leads to the overconsumption and waste of natural resources, two factors often disregarded in the global ecological equation. In this Discussion article, we examine the amount of natural resources that is increasingly being consumed and wasted by humanity, and propose solutions to reverse this pattern. Since the beginning of the 20th century, societies, especially from industrialized countries, have been wasting resources in different ways. On one hand, the metabolism of industrial societies relies on non-renewable resources. On the other hand, yearly, we directly waste or mismanage around 78% of the total water withdrawn, 49% of the food produced, 31% of the energy produced, 85% of ores and 26% of non-metallic minerals extracted, respectively. As a consequence, natural resources are getting depleted and ecosystems polluted, leading to irreversible environmental changes, biological loss and social conflicts. To reduce the anthropogenic footprint in the planet, and live in harmony with other species and ourselves, we suggest to shift the current economic model based on infinite growth and reduce inequality between and within countries, following a degrowth strategy in industrialized countries. Public education to reduce superfluous consumption is also necessary. In addition, we propose a set of technological strategies to improve the management of natural resources towards circular economies that, like ecosystems, rely only upon renewable resources.
当代工业化社会的新陈代谢，即它们的能量和物质流动，导致了自然资源的过度消耗和浪费，而这两个因素常常被忽视在全球生态方程式中。在这篇讨论文章中，我们研究了人类日益消耗和浪费的自然资源数量，并提出了扭转这种模式的解决方案。自 20 世纪初以来，社会，特别是工业化国家，一直在以不同的方式浪费资源。一方面，工业社会的新陈代谢依赖于不可再生资源。另一方面，每年我们直接浪费或管理不善的资源分别约占总取水量的 78%、粮食产量的 49%、能源产量的 31%、矿石的 85%和非金属矿物的 26%。因此，自然资源正在枯竭，生态系统正在受到污染，导致不可逆转的环境变化、生物损失和社会冲突。为了减少人类活动对地球的影响，与其他物种和我们自己和谐相处，我们建议改变当前基于无限增长的经济模式，减少国家之间和内部的不平等，在工业化国家采取去增长战略。减少不必要消费的公众教育也是必要的。此外，我们还提出了一系列技术战略，以改善对自然资源的管理，实现循环经济，这种经济与生态系统一样，只依赖可再生资源。
