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The importance of resource security for poverty eradication

Author

Listed:
  • Mathis Wackernagel

    (Global Footprint Network)

  • Laurel Hanscom

    (Global Footprint Network)

  • Priyangi Jayasinghe

    (Munasinghe Institute for Development)

  • David Lin

    (Global Footprint Network)

  • Adeline Murthy

    (Global Footprint Network)

  • Evan Neill

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Peter Raven

    (Missouri Botanical Garden)

Abstract

As humanity’s demand on natural resources is increasingly exceeding Earth’s biological rate of regeneration, environmental deterioration such as greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere, ocean acidification and groundwater depletion is accelerating. As a result, the capacity of ecosystems to renew biomass, herein referred to as ‘biocapacity’, is becoming the material bottleneck for the human economy. Yet, economic development theory and practice continue to underplay the importance of natural resources, most notably biological ones. We analysed the unequal exposure of national economies to biocapacity constraints. We found that a growing number of people live in countries with both biocapacity deficits and below-average income. Low income thwarts these economies’ ability to compete for needed resources on the global market. By 2017, 72% of humanity lived in such countries. This trend not only erodes their possibilities for maintaining progress but also eliminates their chances for eradicating poverty, a situation we call an ‘ecological poverty trap’.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathis Wackernagel & Laurel Hanscom & Priyangi Jayasinghe & David Lin & Adeline Murthy & Evan Neill & Peter Raven, 2021. "The importance of resource security for poverty eradication," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(8), pages 731-738, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:8:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00708-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00708-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Deng, Nana & Wang, Bo & Wang, Zhaohua, 2023. "Does targeted poverty alleviation improve households’ adaptation to hot weathers: Evidence from electricity consumption of poor households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Mehmet Erdoğmuş, 2023. "Do Shocks Permanently Affect Ecological Balance Per Capita in Brazil, South Africa, and New Zealand?," EKOIST Journal of Econometrics and Statistics, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 0(39), pages 147-160, December.
    3. Shirzad, Hossein & Barati, Ali Akbar & Ehteshammajd, Shaghayegh & Goli, Imaneh & Siamian, Narges & Moghaddam, Saghi Movahhed & Pour, Mahdad & Tan, Rong & Janečková, Kristina & Sklenička, Petr & Azadi,, 2022. "Agricultural land tenure system in Iran: An overview," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    4. He, Jianjian & Yang, Yi & Liao, Zhongju & Xu, Anqi & Fang, Kai, 2022. "Linking SDG 7 to assess the renewable energy footprint of nations by 2030," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    5. Ying Pan & Ke Shi & Zhongxu Zhao & Yao Li & Junxi Wu, 2024. "The effects of China’s poverty eradication program on sustainability and inequality," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.

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