US, EU responsible for 52% of excess resource use causing ecological damage: Study

Rich countries have been robbing the Earth of its natural resources and causing unimaginable damage. A new study has revealed that countries like Australia, Canada, the US, UK and others have been responsible for most of the ecological damage that the Earth has suffered. The study assigned responsibility to 160 countries that have harmed the planet over the past 50 years.

The US alone was responsible for 27 percent of the world’s excessive use of natural resources, while the EU (which included the UK for the period of the study) was responsible for 25 percent. Australia, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and other rich countries were collectively responsible for 22 percent excess use. China is responsible for 15 per cent of global excess material use.

“High income nations are the primary drivers of global ecological breakdown and they need to urgently reduce their resource use to fair and sustainable levels,” stated the study published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.