Abstract
A variety of global metrics indicate the Earth has overshot its capacity to supply source and sink resources without substantial negative feedback. Here the relationship between consumption indicators (oil, freshwater, vehicle and meat consumption, GDP, \(\mathrm{CO }_{2}\) emissions) and well-being is analysed latitudinally across 189 countries and longitudinally over 60 years within three affluent countries. All latitudinal analyses show the characteristic “consumption cliff and affluent uplands” shape: e.g. at low per capita GDP, life satisfaction increases sharply up the cliff with rising GDP; after a threshold, well-being is independent of GDP across the affluent uplands. Longitudinal analyses of Japan, UK and USA since the 1950s show per capita GDP has grown between 3- and 8-fold, but mean levels of well-being remained unchanged. Consumption patterns are now converging on those typical in affluent countries. Indicators for seven baskets of countries: Affluent North America–Europe–Oceania, Affluent Asia, fast developing BRICs and CIVETS, high income Resource Extractors, Poor with Green Peaks, and the Poorest show the factors of consumption between the poorest and affluent (5- to 100-fold) and the fast developing and affluent (2- to 10-fold). A finite planet cannot resource such convergence. One indicator, climate change, grows more of a concern as evidence emerges, yet denial remains strong. A priority is to create opportunities for divergent ways of living. Although material culture has been sought as the means to meet personal well-being, it has failed both the affluent and poorest. A green economy will require human attachments to both place and possessions, thus reducing disposal and damage. Such entanglement produces high affiliation that improves life satisfaction, as does much non-material consumption. As yet, most political and economic systems are far from recognising these imperatives, though there have been notable policy innovations. A shift to a green economy is inevitable. It is simply whether it occurs before or after the world becomes locked into severe climate change and other consequences of harm to natural capital.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achebe C (2012) There was a country. Allen Lane, London
Albrecht GA (2005) Solastalgia: a new concept in human health and identity. PAN 3:41–55
Albrecht GA (2010) Solastalgia and the creation of new ways of living. In: Pretty J, Pilgrim S (eds) Biodiversity and culture: rebuilding lost connections. Earthscan, London
Anderson E (1996) Ecologies of the heart. Oxford University Press, New York
Anderson K, Bows A (2011) Beyond “dangerous” climate change: emission scenarios for a new world. Phil Trans R Soc A 369:20–44
Barton J, Hine RE, Pretty J (2009) The health benefits of walking in greenspaces of high natural and heritage value. J Integr Environ Sci 6(4):261–278
Barton J, Pretty J (2010) What is the best dose of nature and green exercise for mental health? A meta-study analysis. Environ Sci Tech 44:3947–3955
Bassetti T, Benos N, Karagiannis (2013) \(\text{ CO }_{2}\) Emissions and income dynamics: what does the global evidence tell us? Environ Res Econ 54:101–125
Basso K (1996) Wisdom sits in places: landscape and language among the Western Apache. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
Belk RW (1988) Possessions and the extended self. J Consumer Res 15(2):139–168
Belk RW (1991) Possessions and the sense of the past. In: Belk RW (ed) Highways and buyways. Association for Consumer Research, Duluth
Bell MM (1997) The ghosts of place. Theory Soc 26:813–836
Berkes F (2008) Sacred ecology, 2nd edn. Routledge, New York
Berry W (2012) It all turns on affection. Counterpoint, Boston
Betts RA, Collins M, Hemming DL, Jones CD, Lowe JA, Sanderson MG (2011) When could global warming reach \(4^{\circ } \text{ C }\). Phil Trans R Soc A 369:67–84
Bharucha Z, Pretty J (2010) The role and importance of wild foods in agricultural systems. Phil Trans Royal Society London B 365:2913–2926
Bird Rose, D (2000) Dingo Makes us Human. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Bowerman NHA, Frame DJ, Huntingford C, Lowe JA, Allan MR (2011) Cumulative carbon emissions, emissions floors and short-term rates of warming: implications for policy. Phil Trans R Soc A 369:45–66
Boyle D, Simms A (2009) The new economics. A bigger picture. Earthscan, London
CEP (2008) US population. Energy and climate change. Center for Environment and Population, Washington
Christie DE (2013) The blue sapphire of the mind. Oxford University Press, New York
Colding J, Folke C (2001) Social taboos: ‘invisible’ systems of local resource management and biological conservation. Ecol Appl 11:584–600
Conway G (2012) One billion hungry. Cornell University Press, Ithaca
Cooperatives UK (2010) The UK cooperative economy. Cooperatives UK, Manchester
Csikzentmihalyi M (2000) The costs and benefits of consuming. J Consumer Res 27:267–72
Daly HE, Cobb C (1989) For the common good. Beacon Press, Boston
Dasgupta P (2010) Nature’s role in sustaining economic development. Phil Trans R Soc B 365:5–11
Diener E (2000) Subjective well-being. The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. Am Psych 55:34–43
Diener E, Sandvik E, Seidlitz L, Diener M (1992) The relationship between income and subjective well-being: relative or absolute? Soc Indic Res 28:195–223
Diener E, Suh EM, Lucas RE, Smith HL (1999) Subjective well-being: three decades of progress. Psychol Bull 125:276–302
Dietz T, Rosa EA (1994) Rethinking the environmental impacts of population, affluence and technology. Human Ecol Rev 1:277–300
Durning A (1992) How much is enough?. Worldwatch Institute, Washington
Ehrlich PR (1968) The population bomb. Ballantine, New York
Ehrlich PR, Ehrlich AH (2010) The culture gap and its needed closures. Int J Environ Stud 67:481–492
Elgin D (1981) Living more simply. In: Jackson T (ed) Earthscan reader in sustainable consumption. Earthscan, London
FAO (2012) FAOSTAT. Rome
Fitter A (2013) Are ecosystem services replaceable by technology? Environ Res Econ. doi:10.1007/s10640-013-9676-5
Forster EM (1910/2012) Howard’s end. Penguin Classics, London
Frank RH (1999) Luxury fever. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Fuller RA, Irvine KN, Devine-Wright P, Warren PH, Gaston KJ (2007) Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity. Biol Lett 3:390–94
Global Green Growth Institute (2012). At www.gggi.org
Harper S (2013) Population-environment interactions: European migration, population composition and climate change. Environ Res Econ. doi:10.1007/s10640-013-9677-4
Haubenhofer DK, Elings M, Hassink J, Hine RE (2010) The development of green care in western European countries. Explore 6(2):106–111
Hawken P (2007) Blessed unrest. Viking, London
Hawkins TR, Singh B, Majeau-Bettez G, Strømman AH (2012) Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of conventional and electric vehicles. J Indust Ecol. doi:10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00532.x
Haxeltine A, Seyfeng G (2009) Transitions for the people. Tyndall centre for climate change research, Working paper 134
Hine R, Peacock J, Pretty J (2008) Care farming in the UK: contexts, benefits and links with therapeutic communities. Int J Ther Communities 29(3):245–260
Hirsch F (2006) The new commodity fetishism. In: Jackson T (ed) Earthscan reader in sustainable consumption. Earthscan, London
Hobsbawm E, Ranger E (eds) (1983) The invention of tradition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Holdren JP, Ehrlich PR (1974) Human population and the global environment. Am Sci 62:282–292
Inglehart R, Klingermann H-D (2000) Genes, culture and happiness. MIT Press, Boston
IPCC (2007) Fourth assessment report. Climate change 2007. IPCC, Switzerland
Jackson W (1994) Becoming native to this place. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington
Jackson T (ed) (2006) Earthscan reader in sustainable consumption. Earthscan, London
Jackson T (2009) Prosperity without growth. Earthscan, London
Jacobs M (2012) Green growth: economic theory and political discourse. Centre for climate change economics, Policy working paper no 108
Jones T (2007) Utopian dreams. Faber and Faber, London
Kane S (1998/2010) Wisdom of the Mythtellers. Broadview Press, Peterborough
Kassam A, Friedrich T, Shaxson F, Pretty J (2009) The spread of conservation agriculture: justification, spread and uptake. Int J Agric Sust 7(4):292–320
Kasser T (2002) The high price of materialism. MIT Press, Cambridge
Kelly RL (1995) The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways. Smithsonian, Washington DC
Kent S (ed) (1989) Farmers as hunters: the implications of sedentism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Kleine SS, Baker SM (2004) An integrative review of material possession attachment. Acad Mark Sci Rev 1:1–35
Kline D (1989) Great possessions. Wooster Book Company, Wooster
Korea National Science and Technology Council (2010) Science and technology vision for the future, Seoul
Kraybill DB (1989/2001) The riddle of Amish culture. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Lancet (2009) Managing the effects of climate change. Lancet and UCL Institute for Global Health Commission. Lancet 373:1693–1733
Lee RB, Daly R (eds) (1999) Cambridge encyclopaedia of hunters and gatherers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Leopold A (1949) A sand County almanac and sketches here and there, (1974 edition). Oxford University Press, London and New York
Louv R (2005) Last child in the woods. Algonquin Press, Chapel Hill
Marin A, Berkes F (2012) Local people’s accounts of climate change: to what extent are they influenced by the media? WIREs Clim Change. doi:10.1002/wcc.199
McKibben B (2007) Deep economy. Holt, New York
MEA (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being. Island Press, Washington
Meadows DH, Meadows DL, Randers J, Behrens WW (1972) The limits to growth. Universe Books, New York
Millard PH, Smith CS (1981) Personal belonging—a positive effect? Gerontologist 21:85–90
Moffatt I (2000) Ecological footprints and sustainable development. Ecol Econ 32:359–362
Murray J, King D (2012) Oil’s tipping point has passed. Nature 481:433–5
Myers N, Kent J (2004) The new consumers. Island Press, Washington
National Ecosystem Assessment (2011) The UK National Ecosystem Assessment: technical report. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge
Nelson R (1983) Make prayers to the raven. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
NEF (New Economics Foundation) (2013) Happy planet index. At http://www.happyplanetindex.org
Nettle D (2005) Happiness. Oxford University Press, Oxford
New M, Liverman D, Schroder H, Anderson K (2011) Four degrees and beyond: the potential for a global temperature increase of four degrees and its implications. Phil Trans R Soc A 369:6–19
Nhat Hanh T (2008) The world we have. Parallax Press, Berkeley
Nice (2009) Promoting physical activity for children and young people. London
Nicholls RJ, Marinova N, Lowe JA, Brown S, Vellinga P, de Gusmao D, Hinkel J, Tol RSJ (2011) Sea-level rise and its possible impacts given a ‘beyond \(4^\circ \text{ C }\) world’ in the twenty-first century. Phil Trans R Soc A 369:161–181
OECD (2011) Towards green growth. OECD, Paris
O’Neill BC, Dalton M, Fuchs R, Jiang L, Pachauri S, Zigova K (2010) Global demographic trends and future carbon emissions. PNAS. doi:10.1073/pnas.1004581107
O’Neill DW, Dietz R, Jones N (eds) (2010b) Enough is enough. Ideas for a sustainable economy in a world of finite resources. Report of the steady state economy conference, centre for the advancement of the steady state economy and economic justice for all, Leeds
Oreskes N, Conway EM (2010) Merchants of doubt. Bloomsbury, New York
Orr DW (2006) Design on the edge. MIT Press, Cambridge
Piff PK, Krauss MW, Côte S, Cheng BH, Keltner D (2010) Having less, giving more: the influence of social class on prosocial behaviour. J Pers Soc Psychol 99(5):771–784
Piff PK, Stancato DM, Côte S, Mendoza-Denton R, Keltner D (2012) Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior. PNAS 109:4086–91
Pilgrim S, Pretty J (eds) (2010) Nature and culture. Earthscan, London
Potts M, Henderson C, Campbell M (2013) The Sahel: a Malthusian challenge. Environ Res Econ. doi:10.1007/s10640-013-9679
Pretty J (2003) Social capital and the collective management of resources. Science 302:1912–1915
Pretty J (2007) The Earth Only Endures. On Reconnecting with Nature and Our Place In It, Earthscan, London
Pretty J (2011a) Interdisciplinary progress in approaches to address social-ecological and ecocultural systems. Environ Cons 38(2):127–139
Pretty J (2011b) This luminous coast. Full Circle Editions, Saxmundham
Pretty J, Peacock J, Sellens M, Griffin M (2005a) The mental and physical health outcomes of green exercise. Int J Environ Health Res 15(5):319–337
Pretty J (2013) Walking with sharks, (forthcoming)
Pretty JN, Lang T, Morison J, Ball AS (2005b) Food miles and farm costs: the full cost of the British food basket. Food Policy 30(1):1–20
Pretty J, Toulmin C, Williams S (2011a) Sustainable intensification in African agriculture. Int J Agric Sust 9:5–24
Pretty J, Barton J, Colbeck I, Hine R, Mourato S, Mackerron G, Wood C (2011b) Health values from ecosystems. In: National ecosystem assessment, chapter 32. Defra, London
Putnam R (1995) Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. J Democr 6(1):65–78
Quilley S, Barry J (2008) Transition towns: survival, resilience and the elusive paradigm shift in sustainable living. Eco-Politics Online 1(2):12–31
Renewables (2012) Global status report. REN21. At www.new.ren21.net
Rockstom J, Steffen W, Noone K, Persson A, Chapin FS, Lambin EF, Lenton TM, Scheffer M, Folke C, Shellnhuber HJ, Nykvist B, de Wit CA, Hughes T, van der Leeuw S, Ridhe H, Sorlin S, Snyder PK, Costanza R, Svedin U, Falenmark M, Karlberg L, Correll RW, Fabry VJ, Hansen J, Walker B, Liverman D, Richardson K, Crutzen P, Foley JA (2009) Planetary boundaries: exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecol Soc 14(2):32
Rodelj J, Hare B, Nabel J, Macy K, Schaeffer M, Markamnn K, Meinshausen M (2009) Halfway to Copenhagen, no way to \(2^\circ \text{ C }\). Nature Rep Clim Change 3:81–83
Rosshydromet (2008) Assessment report on climate change and its consequences in Russian federation. Rosshydromet, Moscow
Royal Society (2012) People and the planet. Royal Society, London
Sahlins M (1972) Stone age economics. Tavistock, London
Schwartz B (2004) The paradox of choice. Harper, New York
Sherman E, Newman ES (1977) The meaning of cherished personal possessions for the elderly. J Aging Human Dev 8:181–192
Simms A, Potts R (2012) The new materialism. Bread, Print Roses and Schumacher College, Devon
Snyder G (1990) The practice of the wild. Shoemaker Hoard, Washington
Sorrell S (2009) Jevons’ Paradox revisited: the evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency. Energy Policy 37:1456–1469
Stern N (2007) The economics of climate change: the stern review. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Stern N, Rydge J (2012) The new energy-industrial revolution and an international agreement on climate change. Econ Energy Environ Policy 1:1–19
Torras M, Boyce JK (1998) Income, inequality, and pollution: a reassessment of the environmental Kuznets Curve. Ecol Econ 25:147–160
Tuan Y-F (1977) Sense and place. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis
Turner J (1996) The abstract wild. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson
UK Foresight (2007) Tackling obesities: future choices. Government Office of Science, London
UK Foresight (2011) Global food and farming futures. Government Office of Science, London
UN Statistics Division (2009) Energy Statistics Yearbook 2009, New York
UNCSD (2012) United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. At http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/
UNDP (2011) Human development report 2011—Sustainability and equity. UNDP, New York
UNEP (2011) Towards a green economy: pathways to sustainable development and eradication of poverty. UNEP, Nairobi
UNICEF (2012) Levels and trends in child mortality. UNICEF, New York
University of Illinois Sea Ice Dataset (2012) At www.arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/SEAICE
Veblen T (1899/2009) The theory of the leisure class. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Veenhoven R (2012) Trends in Nations, World Database of Happiness. Erasmus University Rotterdam. http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl
Verschuuren B, Wild R, McNeely JA, Oviedo G (2010) Sacred natural sites. Earthscan, London
Victor P (2008) Managing without growth. Edward Elgar, London
Wachtel P (1983) The poverty of affluence. Free Press, New York
Waggoner PE, Ausubel JH (2002) A framework for sustainability science: a renovated IPAT identity. PNAS 99:7860–7865
Walker S (2011) The spirit of design. Earthscan, London
Ward Thompson C, Roe J, Aspinall R, Mitchell R, Clow A, Miller D (2012) More green space is linked to less stress in deprived communities; evidence from salivary cortisol patterns. Landsc Urban Plan 105:221–229
Warner M (2011) Stranger magic. Vintage, London
WCED (1987) Our common future. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Wilkinson R, Pickett K (2009) The spirit level. Penguin, London
Wilson DS (2011) The neighborhood project: using evolution to improve my city. One block at a time. Little Brown, London
Wilson C, Gruber A, Bauer N, Krey V, Riahi K (2012) Future capacity growth of energy technologies: are scenarios consistent with historical evidence? Clim Change. doi:10.1007/s10584-012-0618-y
World Bank (2012a) World Development Indicators. At www.worldbank.org
World Bank (2012b) Inclusive green growth. The Pathway to Sustainable Development, Washington
WWF (2010) Living planet report. WWF and Global Footprint Network, London and Oakland
WWF (2012) China ecological footprint report 2012. WWF and Global Footprint Network, London and Oakland
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Glenn Albrecht, Peggy Barlett, Fikret Berkes, Zareen Bharucha, Steffen Böhm, Bill McKibben, David Orr, Malcolm Potts, Colin Samson and Netta Weinstein for valuable advice and comments on earlier versions of this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pretty, J. The Consumption of a Finite Planet: Well-Being, Convergence, Divergence and the Nascent Green Economy. Environ Resource Econ 55, 475–499 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-013-9680-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-013-9680-9