Jacqueline A. Morris

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

MDGs and resource scarcity

I have been looking at the MDGs in the context of global resource scarcity. Right now, a large part of the increased cost of oil is the push on the demand side by developing countries that are pushing development goals, tied into the decline in oil production by the large producers (mainly Saudi Arabia). Has anyone considered the requirements in non-renewable resources if the MDGs are met with the current technology (oil based)? This came into my mind when I was reading about the problem that Nicaragua in particular and some other Caribbean countries are having with sustaining growth with the increasing price of oil. The current price floor is US$50/barrel. If it goes up (as it is expected to), then how can developing countries afford to develop? UNLESS the development is tied to intense research and development and implementation of alternative energy sources, such as wind, wave, solar. IMO, blind charging ahead to implement the MDGs without looking at the resources needed (and not just financial) and the impact on the environment, to me might lead us to a worse case than we are at now. Take a look at http://www.peakoil-ps.com for some articles including the one on Nicaragua.

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