Sustainable Development and Natural Resources

The book focuses on the tensions and challenges faced by emerging economies, which, although rich in natural resources, struggle to achieve economic and social development amid a global environmental crisis. The paths to development followed by the success stories of the second half of the 20th century, marked by heavy pollution and the deterioration or destruction of fragile ecosystems, are no longer available in the 21st century. The analysis in the book addresses the three dimensions behind the explosive increase in the human footprint on the planet: the size of the population and its evolution, the per capita consumption of natural resources, and the efficiency in the use (and abuse) of Nature’s services. Demography is critical because most of the world's population is concentrated in emerging countries and, therefore, its direct impact on the use of natural resources and land. In addition, most of them are amid a fast demographic transition. Per capita consumption patterns are also fundamental, precisely because if consumers in emerging countries replicate the patterns of rich countries and, at the same time, the latter maintain the current ones, there is simply no way to avoid the collapse of many ecosystem services, that most likely result and a greater deterioration in the general living conditions of the world's population. Last, but not least, is the efficiency in the use of nature's services, both those that are used directly for the provision of raw materials, and those that support life, maintaining the integrity of the biosphere. Ecosystems have been abused because, until now, most of their services have been freely available to Humanity, and their deterioration and scarcity have not been signaled by markets. Most emerging countries are rich in natural resources and in many of them remain most of the last reserves of land ecosystems and biodiversity of the planet. They face great tensions to improve the living conditions of their population and, at the same time, adequately manage the protection of ecosystems. These challenges cover a wide spectrum of matters, such as the sustainable management of forests and fisheries, and the allocation of rents from mining resources to investments in human and physical capital to compensate for their depletion. On the other hand, all this must be done together with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as with investments to protect productive capacities and infrastructure from climate change. A final message for young generations: there is still time to react and avoid a global catastrophe, but it is running out quickly. As technology and scientific technical knowledge open new paths for an orderly transition to a globally sustainable development path, sacrifices must be made to pay for the excesses of current and past generations. Fortunately, there has never been such a large generation with the awareness of the challenges as well as the means at its disposal to confront them.