Are we nosediving towards a resourceless future?

http://www.dw.com/en/are-we-nosediving-towards-a-resourceless-future/a-18538781

Dwindling resources and overpopulation are raising concerns about a future with less food, water and energy. But should we accept a lack of resources and reconcile ourselves to a bleak future?

Are we nosediving towards a resourceless future?
Manasi Gopalakrishnan
24.06.2015

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Contemporary debates on the future of Planet Earth and sustainability in particular sound like dark prophesies signaling some kind of Armageddon. By 2050, estimates predict there will be nine billion people on this planet, we will have less access to resources and face tremendous security risks. But how real are these scenarios?

"Resource wars...are very rare," says Günter Nooke, Commissioner for Africa at the German Ministry for Economic Development (BMZ). In many cases, Nooke says, "conflicts exist already and conflict parties use natural resources as one means among many others to finance themselves and rule the conflict."

Using resources as a bargaining tool in international policy is not unknown. Russia has stopped gas supplies in the past to Europe purely for foreign policy reasons. Energy independence is therefore a big concern for European countries, which import a billion euros worth of energy every day, according to Jan Kallmorgen, partner with Global Practice and a founder of Atlantic Initiative Germany.

Reconciling the thirst for energy with justice for workers

Unfortunately, development needs mean that companies greedy for profit sign contracts with local workers which often put the latter at a disadvantage.