13. 联合国环境规划署(环境署)国际资源委员会表示，自然资源的低效和不负责任的使用是生物多样性丧失的主要原因。目前保护和恢复自然的努力忽视了这一最大因素。14 自然资源开采加工造成全球 90%以上的生物多样性丧失和缺水，而生物质的开采加工造成了 80%以上与土地使用有关的生物多样性丧失。15 污染也与人们的生活方式密切相关。废物继续成为全球挑战，但数据匮乏。随着城市面积的扩大，预计到 2050 年，世界物质消费量将从 2010 年的 411 亿吨增加到约890 亿吨。16 城市仅占世界陆地面积的 2%，但城市范围内的活动消耗了地球 75%以上的物质资源。17 亚洲的消费量将会增加，亚洲拥有世界上千万人口以上的特大城市最多，18 同时撒哈拉以南非洲的城市正以每年 4%的速度迅速增长，19 因此未来几十年非洲将出现最大的消费增幅。预计到 2050 年，非洲人口将翻一番，物质消耗将从每年的 20 亿吨跃升至 177 亿吨。20
13. According to the International Resource Panel of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the inefficient and irresponsible use of natural resources is the primary cause of biodiversity loss. Efforts so far to protect and restore nature have overlooked this biggest single factor. 14 The extraction and processing of natural resources account for more than 90 per cent of global biodiversity loss and water stress, with the extraction and processing of biomass driving over 80 per cent of land-use-related biodiversity loss.15 Pollution is also closely connected to people’s lifestyles. Waste continues to be a global challenge, and data is scarce. With the expansion of urban areas, the world’s material consumption is expected to grow from 41.1 billion tons in 2010 to about 89 billion tons by 2050. 16 Cities only cover 2 per cent of the world’s land surface, but activities within their boundaries consume over 75 per cent of the planet’s material resources.17 Consumption in Asia is set to increase as the continent hosts the majority of the world’s megacities – cities housing more than 10 million people18 – and, as cities in sub-Saharan Africa are rapidly growing by 4 per cent every year,19 the biggest consumption jump in the coming decades will happen in Africa. The continent is expected to double in population by 2050, with material consumption jumping from 2 billion tons to 17.7 billion tons per year. 20