# Australians use more natural resources per person than all but 3 other nationalities



## Trances (May 19, 2003)

Australians use more natural resources per person than all but three other nationalities

*Australia 'living beyond its means'*
Last Update: Friday, October 22, 2004. 9:53am (AEST)

Australia has been named as one of the world's top-four natural resource consumers.

Environmental organisation WWF International has warned that the global population is consuming about 20 per cent more natural resources than the planet can produce.

The group's Living Planet Report for 2004 estimates that each person has an ecological footprint equal to 2.2 hectares in terms of their capacity to pollute or consume energy and other resources, including food.

However, it says the planet can only offer 1.8 hectares each.

This contrasts with the position in 1960, the year WWF was launched, when people used only 50 per cent of what the earth could generate.

WWF says the country with the largest overall footprint in 2001 was the United Arab Emirates, with about 10 hectares per person.

It was followed by the US and Kuwait with scores above nine hectares, while Australia was the fourth-largest burden on the world's resources, with 7.7 hectares per person.

'Ecological debt'

WWF International director-general Dr Claude Martin says the world is "running up an ecological debt which we will not be able to pay off".

The report, the fifth in a series, says that between 1970 and 2000, populations of marine and terrestrial species fell 30 per cent. Those of freshwater species declined 50 per cent.

"This is a direct consequence of increasing human demand for food, fibre, energy and water," it said.

Jonathan Loh, one of the report's authors, says that on present trends, countries will miss a target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss by 2010, as agreed at the Johannesburg Earth Summit in 2002.

The fastest-growing component of the footprint was energy use, which had risen by 700 per cent between 1961 and 2001.

Overall, resource use as measured by the footprint rose 8 per cent in per capita terms among the planet's richer 1 billion inhabitants in the years 1991-2001 but fell by the same percentage among the rest of the world, WWF said.

It found that North Americans are consuming resources at a particularly fast rate, with an ecological footprint twice as big as that of Europeans and seven times that of the average Asian or African.

Unsustainable

"If we all reached the level of per capita footprint of the average North America, it is clearly an unsustainable situation," Mr Loh said.

"The planet clearly would not be able to sustain that level of consumption for very long."

Mr Loh says bringing the world back into balance involves action on a number of fronts, including slowing world population growth.

But he says technology could play a vital role, particularly through the use and development of more environment friendly energy sources.

"If you look at that 20 per cent excess, a very large part of our footprint is coming from the consumption of fossil fuels," he said. "And that is the biggest problem to target."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/s1225563.htm

-- Reuters


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## Trances (May 19, 2003)

Was reading the Australian news and they mentioned UAE wow !

Quick Read of the above
if Australia is at the top 4 then who is above
USA yes but at 3 and Kuwait so is number one
UAE ! should be so proud !


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

can someone give me the ranking


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## Face81 (Aug 24, 2004)

Trances said:


> Was reading the Australian news and they mentioned UAE wow !
> 
> Quick Read of the above
> if Australia is at the top 4 then who is above
> ...


Hello m8!!!!!!!!

Sorry that it has been ages since I last posted......got a little tied up with uni work and all. Hope u and everyone else on the forum is doing well.

Week 4 is about to kick off now.....all going good so far........only 7 weeks b4 term ends. woohoo!LOL

Real shocker of an article......NOT! The way this lot wastes resources and everything else, its about time someone took notice.......Its nothing to be proud of at all.......Very embarrasing mo for the United Arab Emirates!!!!hno:


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## Trances (May 19, 2003)

well just another list they are the top off
Hope you studies are going well


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## Face81 (Aug 24, 2004)

Trances said:


> well just another list they are the top off
> Hope you studies are going well


:hi: :hi: :hi:

Studies are going well. Thanks for asking. :drunk: It is as usual a hectic time, but nothing I cant cope with, he says! LOL......Postgraduate plans are going very well so far.....will keep u posted kay:.

Heard about that heat wave in NSW.........38 degrees one day and 14 the next.....that must have been some experience! I am sure u were the only Ozzie going around telling everyone, "38 degrees isnt so bad. Look! I can even go for a walk in this weather. Its great!" LOL

We are down to 32/33 now and are on course for a good winter season......shame u cant be here to enjoy Dubai when the weather is at its best.

Hope ur job hunt is over and that u have settled into ur luxury home on the cliffs by the beach well! LOL.....such a hard life. hehehehe


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

i remeber reading in on of those top ten of everything books that the most country producing co2 coz of car emissions was qatar followed by UAE. dunno if i should be proud or ashamed!! damn land crussiers!!


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

this is a serious problem nobody wants to talk about, especially politicians 
there is only a very small number of countries that care about protecting our environment

we urgently need alternative fuels. what about hydrogen? scientists have promised this technique will soon dominate, but nothing happened yet!

another fact is that our mankind is getting lazy more and more! in germany you pay 1.3 $ for 1 litre of super right now. this is extremely high. people are very annoyed by these prices but they still use their car for a 1km ride. if you would subtract these emissions caused by "short rides" it will dramatically protect our environment and will preserve our ressources
but nobody cares :dunno:


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

your preaching to the wrong crowd!!


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## dazz (Jul 13, 2004)

oh didn't know that fuel prices are so high also in germany
here in Finland 1,2euro per litre


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

can anyone tell me what does this suppose to mean, i didnt understand.


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