• per capita energy consumption is absolutely booming from a historical perspective, and that boom, of course, has been powered overwhelmingly with fossil fuels.

Over-consumption in rich countries and rapid population growth in the poorest both need to be tackled to put society on a sustainable path, a report says.

An expert group convened by the Royal Society spent nearly two years reading evidence and writing their report.

Written up by the BBC at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17829665

Highlights:

• Firm recommendations include giving all women access to family planning, moving beyond GDP as the yardstick of economic health and reducing food waste.
• research showing that women in the poorest nations generally want access to family planning and that people benefit from it.
•  
•  the richest must cut back on the material resources they consume – though that might not affect living standards.
• Eliminating food waste, slashing fossil fuel burning and switching economies from goods to services are among the simple measures advocated to reduce the developed world’s footprint without reducing the prosperity of its citizens.

“A child in the developed world consumes 30-50 times as much water as in the developing world; CO2 production, a proxy of energy use, can also be 50 times higher,” noted Sir John.

The planet’s boundaries

Usually there are two “reasons” why something is done; the reason why it needs to be done, and, quite separate, the reason people want to do it. The foul-up starts when the reason-for-wanting is satisfied … and the need remains!

Taken from the book Fragile and Distant Suns: A Poul Anderson Collection