 ScarcityAntonino Marvuglia Chapter 143 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 535-536 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: The term scarcity refers to a scenario in which the demand for a particular good or service exceeds its supply. Resource scarcity is the reduced availability of biotic and abiotic resources (as well as land and freshwater) resulting from their current consumption. Since resources’ availability in nature is limited, their extraction impacts their present and future availability. This definition represents a socioeconomic viewpoint on resource depletion, i.e. the idea that extracting a resource from the natural environment reduces its future availability for human use in the global economy (anthropocentric perspective). This is then represented either in terms of the quantity of a resource accessible at a specific moment in time (e.g., ore deposits or fossil fuel reserves) or the future repercussions (e.g., greater economic and/or energy costs) of extracting a certain amount of a resource. However, resource criticality does not only depend on their geophysical availability, but also on constraints dictated by political economy, geostrategic considerations, or environmental legislation in producing countries. Keywords: Resources; Depletion; Criticality; Reserves; Availability; Minerals (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22215_143 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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