3.1 Global trends in consumption Flashcards
What is extreme poverty?
When a person’s income is too low for basic human needs to be met, potentially resulting in hunger & homelessness (less then $1.90 per day).
What were the MDGs?
-A set of interrelated global targets for poverty reduction and human development.
-They were introduced in 2000 @ the UN Millennium Summit; their successor Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) followed in 2015.
What is relative poverty?
-When a person’s income is too low to maintain the average standard of living in a particular society.
-Asset growth for very rich people can lead to more people being in relative poverty.
What is social exclusion?
Exclusion from the prevailing social system and its rights and privileges, typically as a result of poverty or the fact of belonging to a minority social group.
Graph showing trends in poverty rates by region from 1990 to 2018
Describe the trends in poverty reduction in different regions
-Poverty levels have more than halved on the global scale between 1987 and 2013, when they were below 800 million.
-The majority of this decline (800 million) was achieved in East Asia and the Pacific.
-South Asia halved its poverty levels in the same time period. All other regions have seen marginal falls in poverty levels except for Sub-Sahara Africa, north Africa & Middle East.
-Little progress recently in Latin America & the Caribbean.
Summarize the changing rates of poverty in different parts of the world (statistics)
-People living in extreme poverty fell from 40% - 25% 1990 – 2010.
-When China is included this is 46% - 22%.
-90% of the world’s population now live above the extreme poverty line.
-World’s poorest shifted from E. Asia in 90s to S. Asia next decade & now to Sub-Saharan Africa.
-However, poverty remains widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa and some parts of Asia.
-The poverty rate in SS Africa only fell 8% 1981-2016.
-WB estimates of world’s poorest will be in S.S Africa in 2030.
What are the reasons for the fall in poverty in the last half decade?
-China, E.Europe & India participate in the global economy.
-China – global superpower (low-cost labor, attracting manufacturing & massive rural to urban migration = improved livelihoods, jobs, and a modern consumer lifestyle)
-Trickle-down of scientific & medical know-how from Europe, N.America & Japan
Why have some areas seen very little change in poverty rates?
-Sub-Saharan Africa – 1970-90s ‘lost decades’.
-Low investment in health & education, high fertility rates, over reliance on price-vulnerable resource exports, large debt, neo-colonial relations, corruption, instability, conflict & lack of FDI.
Has the success story been overstated? Examples of how poverty has not improved in some regions
-Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa remains at 50% - no lower than 81, and population growth has meant the number of poor living here has x2 from 200-400mn.
-The richest 8 people hold the same wealth as the poorest 50% ( 3.6bn)
-350mn Indians lived on $1.90 in 2017, yet 41 of the 1,000 richest people are Indians.
-Poverty in East Asia fell from 80% in 81 to 18% in 2015. Much of the progress is seen in China.
-The global GDP of $80 trillion is shared unevenly globally and nationally.
-The world’s richest nations are home to 100mn who live below their official poverty line ( 45mn in the USA).
-Of the 1bn who have escaped absolute poverty since the 80s, they would be deemed very poor by EU & USA standards.
-800mn live on $1.90 and 2bn $2-10 a day.
Graph comparing growth in world GDP and world population size from 1950 to 2015
Graph showing the falling share of the world’s population living in extreme poverty (earning less than US$1.90 a day) 1981-2030
What is the new global middle class (NGMC)?
- Globally, the middle class is defined as people with discretionary income.
-They can spend this on consumer goods and, at the upper end, private healthcare, holidays, or even cars.
-Precise definitions vary: one classification is people with an annual income of between $3,650 - $36,500; an alternative classification is people earning more than $10,000 annually.
What is the fragile middle class?
-Globally, there are 2 billion people who have escaped poverty but have yet to join the so-called NGMC.
-This fragile middle class is broadly similar to the idea of a ‘lower middle’ class.
Describe the changes in the size and location of the global middle class
-The number and proportion of people with middle-class income of $3650 or greater have risen – from less than one-sixth to around one-quarter of the world’s population by 2011.
-There has been a significant locational shift. In 1988, the vast majority of GMC lived in HICs, with a small amount in S.America. But by 2011 ½ of GMCs live in emerging economies – China.
-Note: NGMC are not on a par with the MC in HICs. Many will remain vulnerable & may still work in the informal sector.
Examples of how the middle class has grown in Indonesia and China
-Indonesia – people earning more than $10 are predicted to grow from 45mn to 135mn in 2030.
-China – 1 in 5 are middle class and they spent $1.5 trillion in 2015 (the largest market for cars & mobiles) High-value goods are being manufactured & their wages are rising.
Who is experiencing a ‘middle class squeeze’?
-America falling 62-43%
-Europe – austerity measures, with public sector wages frozen.
-Latin America & Caribbean has plateaued.
Why has there been a rise in the ‘global middle class’?
-This change has been brought about mainly by rapid economic growth and industrialization.
-Stable governments have enabled investor confidence leading to FDI.
-In addition, government investment in education and a greater openness to the global market, especially in China and other South East Asian economies has created a large group of people with increased consumer spending power.
What is an ecological footprint?
The biologically productive area needed to provide for everything people use: fruit & veg, wood, fibers, building, and infrastructure space, absorbing carbon dioxide & waste.
What is biocapacity?
The productive area that can regenerate what people demand from nature.
What is carrying capacity?
The maximum number of people an area of land can support with current levels of technology.
What is Earth Overshoot Day?
This marks the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the entire year.
Explain how the ecological footprint measures resource consumption
-This is calculated by measuring the amount of bio-productive land and sea area, built-up land, energy use, and land required for energy consumption required by a population for its consumption and waste management.
-It is often simplified and therefore can be an approximation.
-It tends to be expressed as either an average number of hectares per person in a population or as net carbon emissions.
Explain ecological overshoot and give statistical examples
-The present global average consumption of plant energy ( food source or animal feed) is 6000 calories a day.
-On this basis, Earth’s carrying capacity by some estimates stands at 11bn people.
-But if average consumption levels rise to 9,000 calories, it could fall to 7.5bn.
-Since 1970 the world has been in a state of ‘ecological overshoot’.
-Earth’s total biocapacity is 12bn hectares, while humanity’s ecological footprint is 18.2 ( 2.7 hectares per person).
-In other words, we are using 1.5 planets and may need 2 by 2030.
Diagram showing the ecological overshoot measures
Describe the different scales at which ecological footprints can be measured
-The Global Footprint Network claims that the Ecological footprint is the only metric that measures how much nature we have and how much we use.
-At a national level, it can support countries to become more sustainable and improve human well-being.
-At a city/regional level, it can inform many public project investments.
-At a household level, it helps individuals understand the impact they are having on the planet and helps them to see how they could reduce it.
-Some argue best used at a city/ regional level as 70-80% of us live in cities & cities have the highest footprints.
-At a national level Switzerland in 2006 became the 1st country to review its Ecological footprint.
-Only effective on a global scale if you want to compare countries, but need to acknowledge we live in a globally interconnected economy.
What is sustainable development?
Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
What is consumption and what factors affect a country’s consumption of resources?
-The level of use a society makes of the resources available to it.
-Economic development and changing lifestyles and aspirations usually result in accelerated consumption of resources.
Map showing water stress levels around the world
Graph showing meat consumption in different countries
