Managing Natural Resources

Lewis Akenji of the Hot or Cool Institute and Janez Potocnik of the International Resource Panel, both members of the Club of Rome, have proposed an international body to manage the world’s dwindling natural resources. For the global economy to stay stable, competitive and sustainable, they call for an urgent rethink of how we manage the world’s natural resources.

Our economy is based on highly extractive and inefficient systems, with the sectors that provide our most essential services – food, housing, mobility and energy – the most resource-intensive and environmentally damaging. The extraction and processing of materials drives around 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions, over 90% of land-related biodiversity loss and water stress, and 40% of particulate matter pollution.

The economy is also profoundly unfair, with rich countries using six times more materials per capita than low-income countries. As natural resource stocks shrink with the growing demand for critical minerals, the consequences are conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, potential land grabs in Greenland and Ukraine, and rising tensions in the South China Sea. The American government expressed interest in annexing Canada for its resources.

Despite its fundamental importance, international governance of resource use has long been overlooked or avoided. While governments have recently begun developing resource efficiency and circular economy strategies, most still focus on downstream issues like recycling. An international framework is needed to oversee how resources are extracted, traded and used, built on principles of equity, transparency and long-term resilience. An International Materials Agency is proposed as the central hub for this effort.

The agency would offer reliable, accessible data on material flows and their environmental impacts. It would also provide guidance on global standards and policy development, conduct country-level risk assessments for critical supply chains, and support both governments and businesses in aligning their resource use with climate and development goals.

To ensure fair access, especially for low-income countries, mechanisms should guarantee that developing nations can obtain the materials they need to decarbonise and grow, possibly through the establishment of resource trusts, which would help prevent deepening global inequality and rising instability.

Measurement with traditional metrics such as GDP or recycling rates is inadequate. It is necessary to track how systems of provisioning for key sectors like food, housing, transport and energy contribute to wellbeing while staying within planetary boundaries. Spending could then prioritised on those that are most efficient. Circular economy strategies could go further by establishing legally binding material targets and embedding these across food, housing, mobility and energy systems.

This calls for a transparent and justice-based framework for international resource governance, helping to meet climate and nature commitments, while increasing fairness. The IPCC set a clear climate target of limiting global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is time for a similar benchmark for resource use, one that aligns economic activity with ecological limits and human wellbeing. Otherwise, the scramble for dwindling resources will only intensify, and ordinary people will pay an ever-increasing price.

SOURCE: based on https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity/why-we-nee…