Jeremy Grantham Quotes

When I was born, the world's population was 3.5 billion. There are now 6.8 billion people on the planet. By 2050, that's expected to rise to 9.4 billion. What's more, the Earth's resources aren't growing; they're decreasing - and rapidly.

I think as resources become more dear, we really need to consider population.

There is no single theory that is used in economics that considers the finite nature of resources. It's shocking.

Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill.

Spiraling demand for resources of which our world contains a finite supply is the great long-term threat posed by globalisation. That is why we need new technology to relieve it.

As we move towards 8 or 10 billion people on the planet, there's a little less gold per capita. Each one of us will continue to be fighting over an ever smaller percentage of total resources. This is not a happy thought.

Does this planet have enough resources so seven or eight billion can have the same level of consumption and waste that today is seen in rich societies? It is this level of hyper-consumption that is harming our planet.

In an approximate way, the logic of commons has been understood for a long time, perhaps since the discovery of agriculture or the invention of private property in real estate.

I do not believe you can have infinite population or economic growth in a finite world. We are living on the shoulders of some awesome geometric curves.

A finite world can support only a finite population; therefore, population growth must eventually equal zero.

Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence.

Most of us feel some kind of uncertainty, with the population increasing and resources decreasing. We have to face these issues.

But as population became denser, the natural chemical and biological recycling processes became overloaded, calling for a redefinition of property rights.

The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.

Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.

The United States has consumed in the last 50 years more natural resources than the rest of the entire human race for all of history.

Lists are based on realism - on the coldly contemplated finitude of resources.

Among the most important lessons to be taken from the history of oil is not taking essentials for granted. Conserve oil, but also conserve water. If our Hummers are a red flag in oil, maybe our Jacuzzis are the same for water.

In the last 200 years the population of our planet has grown exponentially, at a rate of 1.9% per year. If it continued at this rate, with the population doubling every 40 years, by 2600 we would all be standing literally shoulder to shoulder.

There never will be enough for everything while the world goes on. The more that is given the more there will be needed.

It's alright all of us all living saying 'oh well there's enough of us so we won't have anymore, don't let anybody else live.' I don't believe in that.

We must alert and organise the world's people to pressure world leaders to take specific steps to solve the two root causes of our environmental crises - exploding population growth and wasteful consumption of irreplaceable resources. Overconsumption and overpopulation underlie every environmental problem we face today.

In what I think is the most serious problem the world faces, which is the population explosion, we will come I think to a time when measures that are not even dreamt of now will become necessary.

When resources are degraded, we start competing for them, whether it is at the local level in Kenya, where we had tribal clashes over land and water, or at the global level, where we are fighting over water, oil, and minerals. So one way to promote peace is to promote sustainable management and equitable distribution of resources.

Water is our most precious resource, but we waste it, just as we waste other resources, including oil and gas.