ABSTRACT
In this century, prosperity and one-time use of most materials have been strong drivers of materials consumption. Global data on materials use is assembled only back to 1963, after industrialization and heavy materials use were well under way in many countries. As developing countries prosper, they are also likely to use more materials just to provide basic services for their people. Even cement, a seemingly innocuous material, is tied to climate change: its production accounts for some 5 percent of global carbon emissions. Whether the demand for materials is generated in the industrial or the developing world, the environmental impact of materials extraction and use is increasingly felt in poorer countries. Air and water pollution standards in developing countries are less rigorous or less likely to be enforced than in industrial countries. Thus developing nations could find themselves not only with burgeoning populations, but also with increasingly spoiled environments.
