Is it possible to give all mankind a decent quality of life and maintain it

    Earth's population in 2017 reached 7.55 billion people. The gap between the standard of living in different regions of the world is enormous. If in Switzerland a bowl of bean stew costs 0.41% of daily income, in Malawi a person will have to spend 41% of the money earned in a day. The difference is a hundred times. In the US, 40% of food is thrown into the garbage, and in Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria and other third world countries, people continue to die of hunger.

    Researchers have tried to answer the question whether it is possible to provide the necessities of first necessity for all people in the world or to raise the standard of living to the countries of the Western world without depriving the Earth of all resources as soon as possible. It turned out that this is impossible if we do not learn how to more effectively use what nature gives us.


    Zug, a city in Switzerland, the country with the highest quality of life

    Researchers at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, analyzed 150 countries to ensure they included basic human needs, such as nutrition, hygiene and the absence of poverty, and more advanced ones, such as equality and citizens' access to governing the country. At the same time, they calculated the consumption by these countries of fresh water, nitrogen, phosphorus and other resources relevant to the planetary ecosystem, as well as carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and the ecological footprint . Interactive Infographics Compiled by Scientistson the one hand, it shows quite obvious things: countries with a high quality of life are heavily consuming resources, in contrast to poor countries. But there are exceptions in the form of several countries that effectively use resources and satisfy the basic and social needs of citizens - they allow us to hope, if not for "utopia", then at least for the probability of a relatively high quality of life for all people on the planet.

    Germany satisfiesall the needs of its citizens, which include food, living conditions, level of education, social protection, employment and income, access to energy and others - only 11 parameters. Moreover, of the seven biophysical boundaries, including the ecological footprint, carbon dioxide emissions, phosphorus and nitrogen consumption, Germany exceeds five. According to the study, it is one of the most efficient countries in terms of combining quality of life and resource consumption.


    Infographics: Germany

    For countries seeking to ensure a decent standard of living, is Vietnam. It reached its maximum performance in healthy life expectancy, nutrition, income, access to energy, social protection and employment, while exceeding only one environmental indicator — carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.


    Infographics: Vietnam

    One of the countries showing low environmental impact and low standard of living is Malawi . Sometime in the Malawi empire in Southeast Africa, iron was skillfully processed, and the name itself, which means “rays of light,” could be associated with the light from blacksmiths at night. In the 16th century, the Portuguese began trading with it, and in the second half of the 19th century, the British colonized it. This state in South-East Africa gained independence from the British crown in 1964, three years after the adoption of the constitution, which granted Africans the right to vote. The only social indicator that was achieved here is the level of employment.


    Infographics: Malawi

    In Russia, everything is in order with employment, food, income, energy, education, social support. At the same time, researchers note the low quality level of democracy. Of the seven planetary resources, Russia exceeds four - carbon dioxide emissions, environmental footprint, phosphorus and nitrogen consumption.


    Infographics: Russia

    A number of countries for various reasons can not effectively use their resources. For example, in the Central African Republic there are deposits of diamonds, gold, oil, it is rich in forest resources - but it is one of the poorest and most hungry countries in the world. The Niger also does not help uranium ore, and in agriculture they continue to use old inefficient tools. In Sudan, terrorist organizationsinterfere with the lives of the rest of the population, impede access to food.

    Turkey, Mongolia, Swaziland simultaneously exceed the indicators of several planetary factors, but they cannot ensure a decent standard of living for citizens. Germany consumes relatively few resources, but shows a very high standard of living. Not bad shows itself Vietnam. Such effective countries, according to the researchers, give up hope: “These results show the possibility of achieving social benefits within the limits of the planet’s capabilities.”

    Scientific work published in the journal Nature Sustainability , 2018. DOI: 10.1038 / s41893-018-0021-4.

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