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Resource insecurities
Summary
Resource insecurity is a mounting concern globally, as well as locally; there is an ongoing struggle to find balance between sustainability, natural resource development, sustained economic growth, and current and future needs and demands. Food, water, energy, and minerals are the focus of many resource conversations, but these concepts could be extended to a range of concerns. When considering this problem, it’s not just how things are made, but how they are transported, how and how much we consume, and the waste created throughout the process.
The resources most at risk can be dependent on location. As migration occurs, localized resource security concerns increase as rapid influxes of people put more pressure on un- or under-equipped places. Urbanization and poor infrastructure cooperatively amplify the problems as well. Consumption type and patterns are another regionally specific demand impacting location specific resource concerns. Emerging economies are rapidly increasing energy and electricity demand as their middle-class grows and all their citizens become more digitally connected. The potential economic growth for these regions is a shade of progress, but with all parts of the world, the increased growth leads to increased consumption, amplifying pressures on resources. Emerging economies aren’t the only players with consumption and production growth patterns that are driving scarcity, these themes can be extended universally, as can the fact that limited access to any resource can negatively impede or constrain economic growth and development.
The stresses and interdependencies of resources cut across organizations, missions, and governments. Sustainable resource management has become central to many policies and agendas of governments and businesses alike – but there are questions as to what effective and efficient governance will look like, globally, and locally. Stress on resources impacts the ability of governments and organizations to deliver on their goals and core policies.Decoupling growth and resources could relieve pressure. Circular business, production, and consumption models are commonly referenced as a positive way forward.
Competition for any number of resources, water in particular, is increasing amongst various players. There are “trade-off[s] between water for agriculture, energy, and industrial usage” leading to increasingly complex dilemmas on how to maintain growth and allocate resources “amongst competing users and national goals ”. The allocation of, and access to, resources is already unbalanced and without concerted, labored efforts , the uneven distribution will only increase . Climate change is a contributing factor, but so is poor resource management. The ability to establish and maintain resource security can garner trust. Poor, mis-, and un-regulated behaviors contribute to resource insecurities, and many are looking towards increased regulatory and legislative control to curb issues. Reducing the fragmentation in laws and increasing effective coordination could positively improve certain aspects of the problem.
Technology is often turned to as the primary solution, but with every new product, process, or standard comes new/massive waste through new production, replacement of equipment, … often necessary to maximize the benefits of the new product/process/etc. But “no matter how much technology advances, it does not seem possible to reconcile the sustainable exploitation of the planet’s resources with the extension of current forms of consumption and production to billions more people.” (Driver 175)