For several decades, we have been living in a world characterized by consumption. A calculation by the Global Footprint Network shows that humans need nearly two Earths to sustain the consumption levels in 2024. In this light, recognizing and addressing overconsumption patterns, as one of the biggest roots of multiple global crises, is vital to the systemic transformation for a sustainable future for all.

Overconsumption Hike

In today’s social landscape bombarded by highly accessible visuals of other people’s lives, it is easy for us to get trapped in the desire to want more. From cute dolls to new ‘hidden-gem’ restaurants, they fuel our craving for novelty and worldly experience. 

The production-consumption cycle indeed drives the economy. However, it now reaches the point where humans’ consumption exceeds the Earth’s capability to support and sustain it —commonly referred to as overconsumption.

In its Global Environment Outlook 7 (GEO-7) report, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlights that per capita consumption has quadrupled since 1960, driven by rising incomes and resource-intensive lifestyles. An analysis by Berlin-based think tank Hot or Cool Institute reveals that the global average carbon footprint for individual lifestyles reached more than six times the level appropriate to keep the 1.5 °C goal in 2025. At the individual level, the transportation we use, the food we consume, and the things we buy contribute in some way.

However, it is important to recognize that our individual choices are guided by broader socio-technical systems. Hot or Cool Institute’s analysis, based on 25 countries, further states that a person in high-income countries emits roughly four times more carbon footprint than someone in lower-middle-income countries on average. Simply put, overconsumption occurs disproportionately, between and within countries.

A Fragile Structure

This unsustainable growth of production and consumption happens against the backdrop of fragile global economic, social, and governance systems. This fragility directly affects the Earth’s finite resources stored within the ecosystems.

For instance, the Global Resource Outlook 2024 noted that the use of materials, including fossil fuels, sands, metals, and non-metal minerals, had been rapidly increasing worldwide. Approximately 90% of this material demand comes from built environments and mobility, food, and energy systems—all spurred by growing population, urbanization, and technology.

Meanwhile, the threat of overconsumption also looms over sustainable efforts. Electric vehicle production, for instance, has been on the rise as part of the energy transition effort. Yet, it could also cause environmental degradation and upstream biodiversity loss due to irresponsible mining practices. Even the attempt to shift toward reusable goods could end up being just another example of overconsumption.

Collectively, these weave into the current interconnected global environmental crises we now experience. UNEP’s GEO-7 report notes several concerning trends: one million species are threatened with extinction; at least 100 million hectares of fertile and productive land worldwide are degraded annually; and, annual solid waste exceeds 2 billion tonnes.

Transformational Changes

In the face of mounting crises, transformation is needed. A possible transformation scenario explored in the GEO-7 report is a behavior-focused transformation, involving promoting the value of sufficiency and decreasing consumption in society. 

Crucial to this scenario is enabling knowledge co-creations, such as integrating Indigenous knowledge and local community practices in the efforts to reconcile human wellbeing and ecosystem health across sectors. Encouraging sustainable use of protected areas, supporting sharing economy and product life extension to avoid unnecessary consumption, and using biodiversity-based practices in food systems are some examples.

Another scenario is the technology-focused transformation that hinges on designing and adopting systems that work effectively and efficiently with the help of technology and innovation. Both scenarios are not mutually exclusive.

Ultimately, recognizing how we consume, the structural factors that shape it, and the bigger implications to the state of the world is a first step to tackle overconsumption. The report emphasizes the importance of all government bodies to work together instead of a siloed approach, supported by a whole-of-society approach involving all sectors.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma

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