The Asia-Pacific region has overtaken the rest of the world to become the single largest user of natural resources.
The region’s share of world domestic material consumption grew from just under 25 percent in 1975 to over 53 per cent by 2005, accounting for nearly 85 percent of global total growth over a three decade period.
Material efficiency in Asia and the Pacific stood at around 2.4 kilograms per US dollar of GDP in 1990; by 2005 it was requiring 3.1 kg of materials per US dollar of GDP.
By 2005, 60 percent of all materials consumed in the Asia-Pacific region were used in China and 20 percent in India
This is due to shifts in economic activity from very material efficiency producers such as Japan to less efficient ones such as China, India and countries in South East Asia.
Accortding to the report, a new “green” industrial revolution is needed in the Asia-Pacific that catalyzes dramatic improvements in resource efficiency if countries and communities are to prosper in the 21st century.
These are some of the observations of a new report launched Monday that estimates that per capita resource consumption of “materials” in the region, such as construction minerals and fuels, needs to be around 80 percent less than today if sustainable development is to be achieved.
The report, prepared by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) says Asia Pacific’s dynamic growth of the past few decades has reduced poverty and increased wealth and per capita incomes.
But that has come at a price that is “exacting a high – current and future – environmental cost. Problems include pollution including greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, deteriorating ecosystems and rapid resource depletion”.
Total materials consumed in 2005 alone – including biomass, fossil fuels, metals and industrial and construction materials – amounted to around 32 billion tons, according to the report “Resource Efficiency-Economics and Outlook for Asia and the Pacific”.
