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Consumer appetite has eroded the quality of life for rich and poor, reports 'State of the World 2004'
 The world is consuming goods and services at an unsustainable pace, with serious consequences for the well-being of people and the planet, reports the Worldwatch Institute in its annual report, 'State of the World 2004: Richer , Fatter and not much Happier.'
Around 1.7 billion people worldwide-more than a quarter of humanity-have entered the "consumer class", adopting the diets, transportation systems, and lifestyles that were limited to the rich nations of Europe, North America, and Japan during most of the last century. In China alone, 240 million people have joined the ranks of consumers-a number that will soon surpass that in the United States . Classified as those who use televisions, telephones, and the Internet, along with the culture and ideals these products transmit, almost half of this consumer class now lives in developing countries, which also have the greatest potential to expand the ranks of consumers. "Rising consumption has helped meet basic needs and create jobs," says Worldwatch Institute President Christopher Flavin. "But as we enter a new century, this unprecedented consumer appetite is undermining the natural systems we all depend on, and making it even harder for the world's poor to meet their basic needs." "Higher levels of obesity and personal debt, chronic time shortages, and a degraded environment are all signs that excessive consumption is diminishing the quality of life for many people. The challenge now is to mobilise governments, businesses, and citizens to shift their focus away from the unrestrained accumulation of goods and toward finding ways to ensure a better life for all." Private consumption expenditures-the amount spent on goods and services at the household level-have increased fourfold since 1960, topping more than $20 trillion in 2000, reports 'State of the World 2004'. The 12% of the world's people living in North America and Western Europe account for 60% of this consumption, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa account for only 3.2%. The problem is the glaring contrasts The report observes that sharp differences exist in the world today - while the consumer class thrives, there are great disparities in consumption patterns and the basic needs of many who do not belong to this class remain unmet. - The 12 % of the world's people living in North America and Western Europe account for 60 % of global consumption, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa account for only 3.2 %
- While consumers across the globe spend an estimated $35 billion a year on bottled water, an estimated 1.1 billion people, or 1 person in 5, still lack reasonable access to safe drinking water.
- While as many as 2.8 billion people on the planet struggle to survive on less than $2 a day, in 2002, 1.12 billion households-about three-quarters of the world's people-owned at least one television set.
- Today, the world's richest people use on average 25 times more energy than the world's poorest. The United States , with just 4.5% of the world's population, releases 25% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
- Worldwide, water demands roughly tripled. The number of large dams climbed from 5,000 in 1950 to more than 45,000 today.
The production factor More effective production procedures during the last century have also been responsible for driving up consumption, the report notes. - For instance, modern industrial workers now produce in a week what took their 18th century counterparts four years.
- In the US only about 12 hours of work per week were needed in 2000 to produce as much as 40 hours did in 1950.
- Global spending on advertising reached $446 billion in 2002 (in 2001 dollars), an almost nine-fold increase over 1950. More than half is spent in the US markets.
The health costs of increased consumption As much as lack of adequate resources affects the world's poor, unchecked consumerism takes its toll on those who consume more as well, says the report, suggesting that having more is just as dangerous as not having enough. For instance: - Smoking contributes to around 5 million deaths worldwide each year. In 1999, tobacco-related medical expenditures and productivity losses cost the United States more than $150 billion-almost 1.5 times the revenue of the five largest multinational tobacco companies that year.
- In the United States , an estimated 65% of adults are overweight or obese, leading to an annual loss of 300,000 lives and at least $117 billion in health care costs in 1999.
- A study of more than 200,000 people in 448 US counties found that those living in low-density suburban communities spent less time walking and weighed 6 pounds more on average than those living in densely populated areas. Suburbanites were also found to be as likely as cigarette smokers to have high blood pressure. The average US adult now spends 72 minutes a day behind the wheel, often alone.
- Time pressures are often linked to the need to work long hours to support consumption habits-and to upgrade, store, or otherwise maintain possessions. Americans are among the most overworked people in the industrial world, putting in 350 hours (9 workweeks) more on the job each year than the average European.
Icecream vs immunisation A telling picture of the skewed nature of global spending patterns emerges in the section of 'SOWR 2004' that compares personal spending on luxury items with the amounts needed to meet pressing global social or economic goals. For instance, providing adequate food, clean water, and basic education for the world's poorest would cost less than the amount people spend annually on makeup, ice cream, and pet food. - The annual expenditure on makeup is $18 billion, far less that the $12 billion it would cost to provide health care for all women.
- The goal of wiping out global hunger and malnutrition would need an annual investment of $19 billion, just $2 billion more than Europeans and Americans spend per year on pet food.
- The bill for immunising every child would come to $1.3 billion, slightly under ten times the amount Europeans spend on icecream each year, $11 billion.
There is little evidence that the consumption locomotive is braking-particularly in the United States , where most people are amply supplied with the goods and services needed to lead a good life. In the United States today, there are more private vehicles on the road than people licensed to drive them, the Worldwatch report points out. The average size of refrigerators in US households increased by 10% between 1972 and 2001, and the number per home rose as well. New houses in the US were 38% bigger in 2000 than in 1975, despite having fewer people in each household on average. Yet increased consumption has not brought Americans happiness. About a third of Americans report being "very happy," the same share as in 1957, when Americans were only half as wealthy. Curbing consumption This rising consumption in the US , other rich nations, and many developing ones is more than the planet can bear, reports State of the World 2004 . Forests, wetlands, and other natural places are shrinking to make way for people and their homes, farms, malls, and factories. Despite the existence of alternative sources, more than 90% of paper still comes from trees-eating up about one-fifth of the total wood harvest worldwide. An estimated 75% of global fish stocks are now fished at or beyond their sustainable limit. And even though technology allows for greater fuel efficiency than ever before, cars and other forms of transportation account for nearly 30% of world energy use and 95% of global oil consumption. At the same time, however, growing dissatisfaction with current consumption trends has led consumer advocates, economists, policymakers, and environmentalists to develop creative options for meeting people's needs while dampening the environmental and social costs of mass consumption. 'State of the World 2004' points to a range of opportunities that are already available to governments, businesses, and consumers to curb and redirect consumption: - ECOLOGICAL TAX REFORM. By shifting taxes so that manufacturers have to pay for the harm they do to the environment, and by introducing production standards and other regulatory tools, governments can help minimise negative impacts on natural resources.
- TAKE-BACK LAWS. Now being adopted by a growing number of governments around the world, these laws require companies to "take back" products at the end of their useful lives, and typically ban the landfilling and incineration of products.
- DURABILITY. Industries can take shared responsibility for their ecological impacts by finding ways to reduce the amount of raw material needed to create products and by making goods more durable and easy to repair and upgrade.
- PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Changes in consumption practices will also require millions of individual decisions that start at the grassroots-about everything from our use of energy and water to our consumption of food.
"It would be foolish to underestimate the challenge of checking the consumption juggernaut," concludes Flavin. "But as the costs of unbridled appetites grow, the need for innovative responses becomes clearer. In the long run, meeting basic human needs, improving human health, and supporting a natural world that can sustain us will require that we control consumption, rather than allow consumption to control us." (InfoChange News & Features, January 2004)
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