Natural Resources and Biodiversity

From Bertelsmann Future Challenges

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To live, we do not depend on faster cars, good wine, outstanding stock performance or attractive lifestyle offerings. We do, however, depend on natural resources. The inhabitants of the world's rich countries need 8 times more land to produce their goods than the inhabitants of poor countries. But how do we manage the earth's resources? In fact, there is no system for accurately assessing the worth of these resources. If a mining company buys a piece of land, it only has to pay the land's property value. Another way of thinking -- a more comprehensive way -- would be to ask what value the land has in terms of biodiversity and thus what value it has for mankind in general. Failure to take a broader perspective means that we continue to significantly misallocate our resources. Many species, for example, have become extinct, and all types of animals -- fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals -- are impacted. Experts believe that at least 15 percent of the earth's biologically active surface area has to be kept undamaged. This is the only way to maintain the natural and biological resources that are essential for sustaining life on earth. When will we fall below this level?

Correlations/Crosslinks

Correlations/Crosslinks - Natural Resources and Biodiversity

Metastudy

Since its founding, the Bertelsmann Foundation has worked to define and develop solutions to future challenges. The Foundation is currently engaged in an innovative project to explore large-scale trends in society from 2020 to 2100. This project is called the Megatrend Meta-Analysis (MeMA).

Metastudy: Natural Resources / Energy Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, economic and population growth have driven the use of energy and natural resources. These trends have renewed concerns about resource scarcity, rising prices, and environmental degradation.