Resource distribution is a term that refers to where resources occur. Resources are limited and finite and if the distribution of these resources is unequal, it can lead to conflict. People rely on natural resources to provide food, fuel and shelter. Conflict and other human problems can be caused by inequal distributions of these resources.
Humans depend on nature for their food, fuel and shelter.
Natural resources are the raw materials and energy used by humans to meet their needs. These resources include water and soil, as well as fossil fuels, plants, air, and even air. These resources are used to make everything human, including food and fuel. These resources are also used to build homes, generate electricity, and make raw materials for industry.
The continuous inflow of natural resource is critical to the survival of our economy. These resources include forest, fossil fuels, arable and other natural resources. While these resources can regenerate, over-exploitation may result in depletion of the remaining stocks. This could impact the quality of life and future generations.
Natural resources can be finite
Natural resources are the factors of production that come from nature. These factors can be shared and are always free to use. Examples of natural resource include water, air and even land. But not all of them are free. Some of them, such as rivers and forests can be shared among all.
Natural resources can only be created and replenished in nature. While the number of resources may rise and fall, their effective quantity is not unlimited. A finite amount of any resource will eventually run out.
They are exhaustible
According to the "cheapest first" rule, deposits that have low extraction costs should always be exploited first. The cost of extracting a single unit of resource should go up as the cheapest deposits fall. This rule predicts that a resource's price will rise in accordance with Hotelling’s d-percent rule.
Harold Hotelling, who first proposed the theory on exhaustibility in 1931, is still the one who developed it. Hotelling observed that our dependence on finite resources has led us to a shrinking stock. To understand what he meant with this statement, we must first define the term finiteness. A finite amount of natural resources can also be defined as the rate at which it is extracted, the replenishment rate and the total stock. An increasing rate at which a resource is being extracted will result in a decrease in its availability over a short period.
Conflict can arise from an unequal distribution
The unequal distribution of natural resources has historically been a cause of conflict. Fairer trade would encourage a peaceful, sustainable world. But current approaches to resource trade are insufficient. These trade agreements do not address the underlying causes of conflict. As a result, the conflict potential remains high.
It is difficult to understand the relationship between conflict and inequality. Some studies have focused only on inequalities of individuals while others have focused more on inequalities of groups based in religion, race, gender, or any other characteristic. But it is evident that not all forms of inequality are equally important. Uneven distributions of resources can lead to conflict within communities, between countries, or among cultural groups.