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INTRODUCTION
There is an unprecedented global
demand for land, energy, food, water, and minerals and scarcities frequently occur.
The migration of people has led to an accelerated exploitation of renewable and
non-renewable natural resources. Resources are frequently used interrelatedly and a resource nexus exist. The resource nexus comprises the linkages between natural resources and raw materials that arise from economic, social, and natural processes. Physical, economic, and social
interconnections between resources are growing and influence resource
availability. The richness in natural resources has attracted people to urban
areas but they are susceptible to over-exploitation or inappropriate use and are
of global importance (Andrews-Speed et al
2012; Bathelt 2005; World Economic Forum 2014; National Geographic (sa); and
Hayter and Patchell 2015).
CONCEPT OF RESOURCE
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Our life is based on natural
resources. Natural materials become resources when humans value them. People
settle where they can make a living and where resources are available.
Resources are extremely varied. A resource is a product of
biological, ecological or geological processes that satisfies human wants and
obtained from the environment to meet our needs and wants (food, water, and
shelter). Natural resources in the form of materials, water and energy, as well as the land available to us on Earth, are the basis of all living beings on our planet. Natural resources (food, water, energy, and minerals) are stocks of
materials that exist in the natural environment that are both scarce and
economically useful in production or consumption, either in their raw state or
after a minimal amount of processing. It originates in the interconnections
between different resources (e.g. from the requirement of one resource as an
input to produce another). It is biophysical materials that satisfy human wants
and provide direct inputs to human well being. Resources can’t be consumed in their original form so resource development help to process into more usable commodities. All goods either embody natural resources or require resources for their production (e.g. food crops require land and water to grow). The utility of resources and their contribution to human welfare may be experienced directly – for example, as material inputs such as food and shelter that enable subsistence – or indirectly via its role in exchange (Gregory et al 2009; Miller 2007; World Trade Report
2010; WEF 2014; Andrews-Speed et al 2012; Muilerman and Blonk 2001; SERI 2009;
Hayter and Patchell 2015).
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There are three types, namely perpetual (the use of which does not lead to a reduction in their size, e.g. solar energy), renewable resources (e.g. fresh water, agricultural products (e.g. crops) and fish, and wood that can be harvested – but not faster than their rate of replenishment, and non-renewable (created by very slow geological processes, so slow in human terms that their use diminishes the available stocks, e.g. fossil fuels for energy and minerals) (Miller 2007; Muilerman and Blonk 2001).
RESOURCE USE
Natural resources depletion has taken at an unprecedented, rapid, and environmentally unsustainable pace. On a finite planet, the supply of food, water, energy, land, and materials is limited. Nature provides humans with all
resources necessary for life. Without the constant use of natural resources,
neither our economy nor our society could function. With a growing global
population, economy, and affluence, our consumption of nature grows. Developing
countries are more dependent on natural resources as their primary income source
and for their livelihoods. Global extraction and consumption of natural
resources will continue to increase dramatically, unless measures are
implemented to reduce the overall amounts of resource use (UNEP 2014; SERI
2009; Moseley et al 2014; Andrews-Speed et al 2012; Muilerman and Blonk 2001;
UNEP 2010).
RESOURCE DEMAND
With a dramatically increase in population, the demand for resources is taking place. The biosphere has a finite supply of material resources, but demand for them grows exponentially, leading to unprecedented shortages. Over the next 20 years, the world will see accelerating demand for natural resource commodities. To meet the growing demands for fresh water, food, timber, fuel, and fiber, humans have extensively changed ecosystems. The natural resource base our societies are built on is in danger of over-exploitation and collapse. Even if we manage to keep resources in use or in an accessible form, the amount of resources available is limited compared to the potential demand of a growing and increasingly affluent society. Against the backdrop of global environmental change, globalization, and urbanization, the resource nexus has implications both for lifestyles and livelihoods humanity’s demands exceed the planet’s capacity to efficiently provide for us (WEF 2014; SERI 2009; Andrews-Speed et al 2012; UNEP 2010; Balteanu and Dogaru 2011; and Harvey 2014).
RESOURCE AVAILABILITY
Finite resources are being depleted and renewable resources are being extracted beyond their maximum sustainable yield. Natural resource availability is
the function of the supply and demand of resources that are discovered,
processed, distributed, and consumed in intricate global value chains. Defining natural resource availability often fails to consider how they are distributed, both between countries and between individuals within countries. The
challenges of sufficient and equitable access to natural resources will increase as the world population is projected to reach 8 billion by 2030,
and over 9 billion by 2050. Physical, economic, and social
interconnections between resources are growing, and will increasingly influence
resource availability, in both positive and negative way (Andrews-Speed et al
2012; UNEP 2014; UNEP 2010; Moseley et al 2014; SERI 2009; WEF 2014; Balteanu and Dogaru
2011; Harvey 2014).
RESOURCE SCARCITY
Concern over the potential for
resource scarcity has grown considerably. Most resources are asymmetrically
distributed around the globe. There is a great concern about whether the world’s limited natural resource
base is capable of sustaining economic growth and a growing population. Notably, an increasing demand for natural resource commodities will challenge human ingenuity to continue to overcome impending resource scarcities. Actions
affecting one resource often have consequences for other resources, in the same
locale or on the other side of the world (WEF 2014; Andrews-Speed et al 2012;
SERI 2009).
PERSPECTIVES ON
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS
Impacts of human activities on
nature have increased, changing ecosystem functions. Human activities and
environmental change are strongly connected. Human-environment relationships is
the interactions and feedbacks between the human and the natural components and
to the linkages between the social and the geophysical systems. It deals with
linkages between the social and physical systems, focusing on the human
pressures on the biogeochemical processes and the environmental effects on
society. It focuses on the escalating intensity of the interactions between
human and nature. The interdependencies of natural and human systems are
complex and can be measured by looking at spatial patterns of resource availability
and demand, the changes that occur and how these patterns are affected by
distribution, growth, and the movement of populations (Balteanu and Dogaru 2011).
UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES INFLUENCES EARTH
The global economy depends on resource inputs extracted from the environment. Global economic and social
development has been achieved through intensive, inefficient and
unsustainable use of the earth’s finite resources. The extraction and use of
natural resources are responsible for environmental problems. Many resource intensive patterns cause severe direct local environmental degradation on global ecosystems and the ecological services, including the devastation of old growth forests, the depletion and pollution of water resources, the destruction of fisheries, any species are under threat of extinction; and the despoliation of land in order to extract mineral resources. The major effects of the human impact on nature
appeared first locally and then, as they multiplied and amplified, regionally
and globally (Muilerman and Blonk 2001; Andrews-Speed et al 2012; SERI 2009; Harvey
2014; Sherbinin and Curran 2004; and Balteanu and Dogaru 2011; UNEP 2014).
The human impact on the global environment and the earth system is large enough to denote a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. Humanity is now a geophysical force, as influential on the earth as other major ecosystem functions. Humans cannot persist on business-as-usual paths through the 21st century because the stress on the global ecosystem and its many life-sustaining functions is too great. (Andrews-Speed et al 2012; and UNEP 2010). Thus, a sustainable livelihood is proposed.
SUSTAINABLE
LIVELIHOODS PERSPECTIVE
A livelihood is sustainable which
can cope with stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and
assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next
generation; and which contributes net benefits to other livelihoods at the
local and global levels and in the short and long term. It is founded on the
ability of households to mobilize the assets that they have. It comprises the capabilities,
assets (material and social resources) and activities required for a means of
living. Achieving sustainable patterns of resource use is about achieving
sustainable development. Sustainably utilizing resources is when resources are used to meet present generations needs without comprising the ability of
future generations to meet their own resource needs. The establishment of Sustainable Development Goals
must integrate resource management concerns and promote the decoupling of
economic growth rates from escalating resource use and environmental
degradation. Goodland and Ledec (1987) (as cited in Bathelt 2005) defines
sustainable development as “a pattern of social and structural economic
transformations (e.g. development) which optimizes the economic and societal
benefits available in the present, without jeopardizing the potential for similar
benefits in the future” (Andrews-Speed et al 2012).
CONCLUSION
Urbanisation, coupled with an
increase in growth and development, place stress on resources. Resources
are frequently scarce. There is a greater demand than supply, inevitably
exceeding its carrying capacity. Shifting to an integrated perception of future
resource availability is a critical part of tackling the social and economic
shifts required to reach three goals: sufficient supplies of natural resources,
flourishing natural ecosystems and sustainable prosperity for global
populations. To achieve a reduction in resource use, it is vital that a change
in our economies deal with natural resources and the services they provide
takes place. The challenge is to ensure a high quality of life without
exceeding the environmental capacities of our planet. A strategy of reducing
resource use will diminish the pressures on the global environment. Humans need
to balance short-term rates of use against long-term availability to ensure a
sustainable future (WEF 2014; SERI 2009; UNESCO 2011).
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