There are two worlds. In the “depletion” world, current generations have a higher quality of life, but unchecked use of natural resources eventually leads to depletion, significantly degrading the welfare of future generations. In the “conservation” world, current generations manage their resource usage for the sake of future generations, in exchange for a lower quality of life.

The Darién Gap is a 60-mile stretch of dense rainforest that connects Central and South America. It constitutes a crossing that takes days to traverse across challenging terrain, and is used by migrants who are seeking to travel to the U.S from Colombia and other South American states. Over the last five years, the Darién Gap has gone from a little-used crossing considered impossible, to one used by over 500K migrants annually. 

In recent months, the US government has undertaken a programme of pulling research grants, revoking researcher visas, and planned enormous cuts to the country’s biggest funders of research. 75% of US academics have suggested they are considering leaving the US, and job applications for US researcher positions have declined by 40%.

The EU imposes fiscal rules to ensure countries maintain debt-to-GDP ratios below 60 per cent and that they do not go above 3 per cent annual deficits. For countries in breach of these thresholds, they mandate spending ceilings that countries have to adhere to or risk facing fines.