Biophysical limits and their policy implications: the nature of the problem

Abstract

When we talk about increasing resource scarcity there is a common assumption that the earth is running out of resources. So, to halt this rapid decline, we must indeed halt economic growth. On the other hand, there are those who believe that resource depletion can largely be addressed with the use of substitutes or by developing new technologies: so, essentially, future behaviours around resource management can be an extension of the past.