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Global Economy & Resources
What is the outlook for renewable energy jobs? How quickly are carbon markets growing? These trends analyze global financial and economic trends in an environmental context.
Feb 13, 2015
Volatile Cotton Sector Struggles to Balance Cost and Benefits
Cotton has been grown by human civilizations for thousands of years. Promoted as “the fabric of our lives” in a long-running U.S. advertising campaign, it remains by far the most important natural fiber for textiles, although it continues to lose ground to synthetic fibers. Cotton’s share of all fibers worldwide was 88 percent in the 1940s and 68 percent in 1960. But by 2010 it had declined to just 33 percent, while synthetic fibers grew to 60 percent, and wool, flax, and cellulosic fibers accounted for the remainder.
Jan 27, 2015
Global Plastic Production Rises, Recycling Lags
For more than 50 years, global production of plastic has continued to rise. Some 299 million tons of plastics were produced in 2013, representing a 3.9 percent increase over 2012's output. With a market driven by consumerism and convenience, along with the comparatively low price of plastic materials, demand for plastic is growing. Recovery and recycling, however, remain insufficient, and millions of tons of plastics end up in landfills and oceans each year.
Jan 20, 2015
Paper Production Levels Off
In wealthy countries, paper is so ubiquitous that it comes in seemingly endless numbers of grades, types, shapes, and colors and is used for both mundane and highly specialized purposes. Too often, paper products are discarded soon after their purchase, and only a portion is recovered for recycling.
Nov 17, 2014
Commodity Prices Kept Slowing in 2013 but Still Strong Overall
Global commodities markets fell an average of almost 9 percent in 2013, continuing a slowdown that began in 2012. The decade prior to 2012 has been called part of a “super-cycle,” a 10–35 year trend of rising commodity prices. Previous super-cycles include U.S. economic expansion at the end of the nineteenth century and Europe’s post-war reconstruction.
Oct 21, 2014
Global Economy Inches Upward as Environmental and Social Concerns Mount
The global economy grew at 4.49 percent in 2013, and the gross world product reached $87 trillion. For the fourth year in a row, the growth rate was slower than during the preceding year. Growth was affected by numerous adjustments in macroeconomic policies, by high unemployment rates, and by weak aggregate demand in the majority of the industrial economies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). By contrast, emerging and developing markets continued to experience higher growth rates due to supportive policies. In fact, in 2013 emerging markets accounted for 50 percent of total global growth.
Jun 30, 2014
Jobs in Renewable Energy Expand in Turbulent Process
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), there may now be as many as 6.5 million direct and indirect jobs in renewable energy. This figure is an update of IRENA’s previous estimate of 5.7 million such jobs, which was published in December 2013. Earlier assessments by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2008 and by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2012 had put the global estimate at 2.3 million and 5 million, respectively.
Dec 30, 2013
Global Economy: Looks Good from Afar But Is Far from Good
Gross world product increased to just over $83 trillion in 2012, a 4.85 percent increase over 2011. On the surface, this metric supports the argument that the worst of the global recession is in the past—and it is. However, closer inspection shows that while there is at least tepid growth globally, growth rates like the ones experienced in the prior 20–25 years now seem to be taking place in emerging economies. In fact, the total gross domestic product (GDP) of emerging economies is now roughly equal to that of all the advanced economies. Nominally, a growth rate just shy of 5 percent seems reasonable, but this rate of growth continues a pattern of slowing growth rates since 2010 and 2011, which were 6.35 and 5.67 percent, respectively. Ironically, one trend that seems continuous since 1980 is that the percent change in global GDP varies widely.
Oct 29, 2013
Mobile Phone Growth Slows as Mobile Devices Saturate the Market
More than 3.4 billion people own at least one mobile phone in 2013. This is equal to nearly half of the world's population. In addition, as of 2010 more than 90 percent of people worldwide were covered by a mobile phone signal, so most people at least have access to a mobile network.
Sep 27, 2013
Commodity Supercycle Slows Down in 2012
Global commodity prices dropped by 6 percent in 2012, a marked change from the dizzying growth during the “commodities supercycle” of 2002–12, when prices surged an average of 9.5 percent a year, or 150 percent over the 10-year period. This change of pace is largely attributed to China’s shift to less commodity-intensive growth.Yet while prices declined overall in 2012, some commodity categories—energy, food, and precious metals—continued their decade-long trend of price increases.
Aug 29, 2013
Development Aid Falls Short, While Other Financial Flows Show Rising Volatility
As the world approaches its 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals outlined in 2000, development aid by the 26 members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development declined in 2012 for the second year. Preliminary data indicate that official development assistance (ODA) totaled $128.4 billion (in 2011 dollars) that year, down 4 percent from 2011’s $133.7 billion. The 2012 figure marks a 6 percent decline from 2010, when global ODA peaked at $136.7 billion.
Apr 25, 2013
More Businesses Pursue Triple Bottom Line for a Sustainable Economy
As corporations of all sizes increasingly choose to monitor and report on their social and environmental impacts, a growing number of mostly small and medium-sized companies are going even further: they are volunteering to be held publicly accountable to a new triple bottom line—prioritizing people and the planet as well as profits.
Mar 26, 2013
Advertising Spending Continues Gradual Rebound Driven by Growth in Internet Media
Global expenditures on advertising grew 3.3 percent in 2012 to $497.3 billion. The United States continues to account for the largest share of total spending, although its share is shrinking. U.S. advertising expenditures grew by 4.3 percent in 2012 and are still nearly a third of the global total. The Asia Pacific region accounted for the fastest growth, however, with ad spending there increasing by 7.9 percent in 2012 (excluding Japan, which grew by 3.1 percent and is measured separately as a fully industrialized economy). Expenditures fell by 2.2 percent in Western Europe, the only region to see a decline, largely due to the ongoing Eurozone crisis. The 2012 growth continues the gradual rebound since advertising spending worldwide dropped by a sudden 9.6 percent in 2009 as a result of the global economic downturn.
Mar 19, 2013
The Looming Threat of Water Scarcity
Some 1.2 billion people—almost one fifth of the world—live in areas of physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion face what can be called economic water shortage. The situation is only expected to worsen as population growth, climate change, investment and management shortfalls, and inefficient use of existing resources restrict the amount of water available to people. It is estimated that by 2025 fully 1.8 billion people will live in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, with almost half of the world living in conditions of water stress.
Jan 30, 2013
Wage Gap Widens as Wages Fail to Keep Pace with Productivity
The economic crisis in 2008 was one of the harsher signs that economic globalization has gone hand in hand with increased volatility and turbulence. It caused the ranks of the unemployed to swell from 169 million in 2007 to 198.4 million in 2009, according to the International Labour Organization. Although the number temporarily dipped to 193.1 million in 2011, a preliminary estimate for 2012 indicates it was back up to 197.3 million. And the number of workers in vulnerable employment globally is estimated at close to 1.54 billion in 2012—about 55 percent of total employment worldwide—up from 1.39 billion in 2000.
Apr 17, 2012
Metals Production Recovers
Global production of key metals surged 14.3 percent in 2010 (the latest year with data) to a record 1.48 billion tons, in a robust recovery from the sharp decline spurred by the 2009 global recession.
Feb 22, 2012
Emerging Co-operatives
Approximately 1 billion people in 96 countries now belong to a co-operative—a form of business characterized by democratic ownership and governance—according to the International Co-operative Alliance. Co-operatives are low-profile but powerful economic actors, with the world’s 300 largest ones generating revenues in 2008 of more than $1.6 trillion. If these businesses were a national economy, they would rank ninth in the world—ahead of the economy of Spain.
Feb 23, 2011
World's Forests Continue to Shrink
The world’s forests shrank by 1.3 percent or 520,000 square kilometers from 2000 to 2010—an area roughly the size of France.
Feb 04, 2011
Global Output Stagnant
The gross world product increased by just 0.3 percent in 2009 as the Great Recession took hold in many of the world's economies. World output is expected to have recovered somewhat in 2010, with growth estimated at roughly 4 percent.
Nov 22, 2010
Unemployment and Precarious Employment Grow More Prominent
After declining from 2004 to 2007, global unemployment took an upturn in 2008 and then sharply rose to 212 million in 2009.
Nov 18, 2010
Materials Use Up
Global use of materials—the food, feed, forest products, metals, and minerals that constitute the foundation of modern economies—was up 2.7 percent in 2007, the latest year for which global data are available.
Jun 17, 2010
Roundwood Production Plummets
Global roundwood production fell by more than 4 percent in 2008 to 3.45 billion cubic meters, as the global recession drove a severe slump in wood-intensive industries, especially housing.
Jan 28, 2010
Ad Spending Slumps in 2008, Projected to Decline Significantly in 2009
Advertising expenditures worldwide fell 2 percent in 2008 to $643 billion, about 1 percent of the gross world product.
Jan 14, 2010
Growth in World Economic Output Slows
The world’s total output of goods and services, known as the gross world product (GWP), rose by 5.4 percent in 2008, to $69 trillion.
Nov 12, 2009
World Labor Force Growing at Divergent Rates
The world’s potential labor force, measured as men and women from the ages of 15 to 64, stands at 4.46 billion people in 2009, up 18 percent over the last decade.
Sep 03, 2009
World Metals Production Surges
In 2008, more than 1.4 billion tons of metals were produced globally—double the quantity of the late 1970s and more than seven times as much as in 1950.
Aug 06, 2009
Water Scarcity Looms
Water scarcity grows in urgency in many regions as population growth, climate change, pollution, lack of investment, and management failures restrict the amount of water available relative to demand.
Jul 23, 2008
Microfinance Surging
The number of “microborrowers” worldwide increased by 17 percent in 2006, according to data from the Microcredit Summit Campaign, continuing double-digit annual growth that averaged some 29 percent annually between 2001 and 2006.
Jul 09, 2008
Jobs in Renewable Energy Expanding
Driven by the gathering sense of a climate crisis, the notion of “green jobs”—especially in the renewable energy sector—is now receiving unprecedented attention.
May 06, 2008
Informal Economy Thrives in Cities
For many poor people in urban areas, the primary means of economic survival is the production or sale of goods or services through semi-legal or illegal ventures, known as the informal economy.
Jan 30, 2008
Carbon Markets Gain Momentum, Despite Challenges
The global carbon market has expanded quickly over the past two years, buoyed by new and continued interest among national and regional governments in curbing carbon emissions.
Jan 16, 2008
Global Economic Growth Continues at Expense of Ecological Systems
In 2007, gross world product (GWP)—the aggregated total of all finished goods and services produced worldwide—was expected to grow 5.4 percent to $72.3 trillion (in 2007 dollars).