It is widely argued that the global consumption of natural resources is rising at an alarming rate. While there are many factors contributing to this phenomenon, some solutions can be adopted to mitigate the situation.
One reason for this problem is that many countries require the use of natural resources for their development. To be more specific, these countries mainly use gas, oil, and other resources to produce energy to fuel their economies. As their economies grow in size, the need for resources also increases dramatically. For example, China has been a leading country in exploiting natural gas and oil to support their economic growth for many decades. Another factor contributing to this issue is the negligence of developing alternative energy sources. To explain, it is easier and also more economical to use natural resources than developing alternatives at the moment. For instance, harvesting solar power is not as effective as burning oil for energy in terms of cost and time.
To alleviate this problem, governments could levy a higher tax rate on the consumption of non-renewable resources. This action increases the cost of these resources, thus discouraging people and corporations from overconsuming them. Another effective measure is to develop a way to harvest and utilize alternative energy sources. If governments or corporations increased their funding for developing renewable energy, the cost of using them would start to decrease and be viable to replace traditional sources. As a consequence, this would lead to a reduction in the figure of natural resources.
In conclusion, fueling economic growth and disregarding alternative resources are two culprits behind the problem. I believe that if the solutions mentioned above were implemented effectively, the problem would be mitigated.