Peak Production from a Planet in Distress: 
Can We Keep it Up?

In 2012, global oil consumption reached an all-time high, the number of workers in vulnerable employment exceeded 1.5 billion people, and physical water scarcity affected some 1.2 billion people.The Worldwatch Institute captures the impacts of these alarming trends and the increasingly risky state of humanity in Vital Signs: Volume 20, the latest compilation from the Institute’s respected Vital Signs project.

Vital Signs: Volume 20 provides up-to-date figures on many of the most critical global concerns. Drawing on a wide range of sources, the report provides authoritative data and analysis on significant global trends such as fossil fuel subsidies, agricultural commodities, and rapid urbanization in the developing world.

“Our economic systems and theories are programmed to squeeze ever more resources from a planet in distress,” said Michael Renner, Worldwatch senior researcher and director of the Vital Signs project. “A mixture of population growth, consumerism, greed, and short-term thinking by policymakers and business people seems to be inexorably driving human civilization toward a showdown with the planet’s limits.”

Some of the trends highlighted in Vital Signs: Volume 20 are positive. Globally, sanitation and water access for 227 million people was improved between 2000 and 2010 to the point where these individuals are no longer considered slum dwellers. Within the agriculture sector, efficient irrigation methods have increased more than sixfold over the last two decades, and organically certified agricultural land has more than tripled since 1999.

Meanwhile, socially sustainable ways of doing business continue to emerge: about 1 billion people in 96 countries belong to a co-operative, whether as a worker, consumer, producer, or purchaser. Similarly, the emergence of so-called “benefit” corporations offers a more socially and environmentally responsible model for private firms.

“There is no shortage of alternatives to change the destructive trajectory that humanity finds itself on,” said Renner. “Renewables and efficient irrigation are two practical options among many others. But we need to get serious about these tasks instead of consigning them largely to the margins.”

Vital Signs: Volume 20 analyzes the above-mentioned trends and many more, using straightforward language and easy-to-read charts and graphs to explain global trends to governments, businesses, and consumers, helping them to make more informed decisions for our future.

Further highlights from the report:

• Wind power:Global wind power capacity grew by 21 percent in 2011—lower than the 2010 rate of 24 percent and markedly lower than the 2009 rate of 31 percent.
• Coal:Global coal production increased by 6,941 million tons in 2011, making coal the fastest growing fossil fuel. Spurred mainly by rising demand in China and India, coal’s share in the global primary energy mix reached 28 percent in 2011—its highest point since record-keeping began in 1971.
• Automobile production:Passenger car production rose from 60.1 million vehicles in 2010 to 62.6 million vehicles in 2011—and 2012 brought a new all-time record of 66.1 million vehicles.
• Meat production and consumption:Global meat production surpassed 300 million tons for the first time in 2012; annual meat consumption increased just 0.4 percent to 42.5 kilograms per person.
• Women farmers:Women farmers produce more than half of all food worldwide and currently account for 43 percent of the global agricultural workforce, yet women own just 2 percent of global farmland.
• Natural disasters:During 2011, a total of 820 natural catastrophes were documented, causing an estimated 27,000 deaths and costing a record $380 billion in economic losses.
• Wage growth:Among the global workforce, wage growth has slowed from an average of 3 percent in 2007 to 2.1 percent in 2010 and 1.2 percent in 2011.
• Water scarcity:Some 1.2 billion people—almost one fifth of the world—lives in areas of physical water scarcity, which occurs when annual supplies per person fall below 1,000 cubic meters.

Vital Signs 2013 just released. Click here to purchase a copy.