Technological and Societal Changes and Their Impacts on Resource Production and Use

The traditional narrative of continued economic growth driven by development aspirations towards material-intensive lifestyles and associated ever larger extraction and use of resources is contrasted with an alternative perspective. This alternative may lead to much lower growth, even to a “de-growth” of biogenic, energetic, and mineral resources. Disruptive innovations, above all digitalization, combined with changing consumer preferences and lifestyles as well as public policies to address climate change could challenge traditional business models and forms of service provision. Examples of such disruptive innovations in the domains of digital convergence and the sharing economy are given with their potential implications on resource use. Two contrasting scenarios, quantified to 2050, illustrate the wide divergence of potential developments in resource extraction and use over the coming decades.