The notion that resources have been placed on earth solely for human consumption cannot continue because society's capacity for consumption appears to be limitless, while the earth's natural resources are clearly finite. Instead, humankind must realize that the natural resources of this earth make up an intricately balanced system that is capable of sustaining itself and the organisms that reside within, but only under certain circumstances. As one of those residents, humans are free to consume, but the rate of that consumption must not exceed the system's ability to cleanse and replenish itself. Currently, the rate of human consumption seriously exceeds this rate of replenishment.

Society's excessive consumption is driven by a set of economic rules that do not make ecological sense. To the economist, continuous growth is not only possible, it is expected. Every month our governments release economic figures that describe the health of our economy. Annual growth of two, three or four percent is considered to be a healthy economy. If this growth is found to stop for even half a year, we are said to be in a recession and everybody from banks to politicians to the person in the street begins to worry. The economist's belief in continuous growth arises out of one of the fundamental assumptions in economic theory: resources are unlimited. To the ecologist, this notion of continuous growth is unlike anything observed in nature. As a result, we find that economic theory and practice has not yet successfully incorporated environmental concerns and considerations into economic analysis.

The concept of economic value must also be redefined if society is to be successful in addressing global change. Certain things such as clean air and water have no monetary value and are considered to be free goods. Despite the fact that both are absolutely essential to human survival, their free goods status leads to waste and abuse of the resource. Since society obviously values these resources, the economic value must be adjusted to reflect this.

Despite the powerful link between economics and global change, the fundamental cause of global change is individual consumption and the value system that drives that consumption. An economy is only a vehicle through which the wants, needs and desires of individual consumers are satisfied. We work hard to make money that we can then use to buy the food, clothing, shelter and material goods that we consider to be necessary or desirable. The production of most of these things consumes energy and other natural resources. Therefore, global change is ultimately caused by the cultural values that define our wants and desires, and thus drives the consumption of energy and natural resources.

In Canada, basic human necessities are taken for granted. For example, most Canadians would not consider living in a house in the city that did not have running water and a flush toilet. Yet in 1985, fully 25% of urban inhabitants in developing countries did not have access to safe drinking water within 200 metres of their dwelling and 41% did not have access to basic sanitation services. Few Canadian households lack a refrigerator, but in India, with a population of over 850 million people, there are estimated to be only 6 million refrigerators. To the average Indian, access to running water, a flush toilet and a working refrigerator may be only a dream, but to a Canadian it is generally taken for granted. Canadians are conditioned by their affluent society to demand much more. In doing so, they consume more natural resources, thus leading to the environmental degradation that is largely responsible for global change.