The report comprehensively analyzes current and future global resource use trends and their environmental impacts. Aims to inform policymakers and stakeholders about sustainable natural resource management to achieve global economic and environmental goals. Underscores the critical need for a global paradigm shift in managing natural resources and argues that by adopting sustainable practices and policies, economic growth can be achieved while minimizing environmental impacts and ensuring the well-being of future generations.

Key Highlights

1. Resource Use Trends:
   • Examines the patterns of global resource extraction and consumption, highlighting the increasing demand for natural resources driven by economic growth and population expansion. It underlines the unsustainable nature of current resource use, which leads to environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.
2. Environmental Impacts:
   • Details the environmental consequences of resource extraction and use, such as habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change. It emphasizes the need for urgent action to mitigate these impacts through sustainable practices and policies.
3. Sustainable Resource Management:
   • Advocates for transitioning to sustainable resource management, focusing on circular economy principles, resource efficiency, and reduced waste. It highlights successful case studies and best practices worldwide, demonstrating the benefits of sustainable resource use.
4. Policy Recommendations:
   • Provides policy recommendations to support the transition to sustainable resource management. These include implementing regulatory frameworks, promoting innovation and technology, and fostering international cooperation to address global resource challenges.
5. Future Scenarios:
   • Presents future scenarios based on different policy and management approaches, illustrating the potential outcomes of continued unsustainable practices versus sustainable resource management strategies.

Overview

Chapter 1

Underscores the critical need to transform resource consumption and production to address environmental challenges. It presents key findings emphasizing the importance of sustainable and equitable natural resource use in meeting human needs while preserving the planet’s life-support systems. The authors argue for swift and decisive action to decouple economic growth from resource depletion and environmental damage. Setting the stage for subsequent discussions, the chapter explores the intricate connections between economic activities, resource management, and environmental impacts. It concludes by calling for innovative solutions to create a sustainable future.

Chapter 2

Examines the drivers, pressures, and trends in natural resource use. Firstly, it identifies key factors influencing global resource consumption, such as population growth, economic development (measured by GDP), urbanization, and per capita income. Subsequently, the chapter analyzes material resource use by exploring extraction, trade, domestic consumption, and waste generation trends.

Furthermore, it highlights the increasing pressures on natural resources and the environment, linking these trends to the broader context of the triple planetary crisis—climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Consequently, it emphasizes the urgent need for sustainable resource management to mitigate these pressures and ensure equitable access to resources. The findings stress the importance of understanding these dynamics to shape policies and actions that promote sustainability and address resource-related inequalities.

Chapter 3

Addresses the urgent need for sustainable resource management in response to escalating environmental pressures caused by resource use. Specifically, it delves into the “triple planetary crisis”—climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution—emphasizing their interconnectedness and how they exacerbate one another.

Moreover, the chapter underscores the unsustainability of current resource consumption patterns, which pose significant threats to human well-being and ecological integrity. In light of these challenges, it calls for systemic changes in resource management, advocating for integrated approaches prioritizing social justice and sufficiency. Additionally, it outlines potential sustainability pathways, stressing the necessity for swift, large-scale actions to decouple resource use from economic growth. Ultimately, it urges a complete reimagining of resource management and utilization, aiming to foster a more sustainable and equitable future for all.

Chapter 4

Presents two contrasting resource use scenarios up to 2060: the Historical Trends scenario and the Sustainability Transition scenario. Additionally, it emphasizes the critical importance of policy interventions and systemic changes to shift toward sustainable resource management. Furthermore, it offers a hopeful vision for the future, provided decisive actions are taken. Consequently, these scenarios serve as a powerful tool for understanding the potential outcomes of our current choices and the benefits of adopting sustainable practices.

1. Historical Trends Scenario: Firstly, this scenario explores the consequences of continuing current patterns of resource use, which are characterized by rising populations, increasing incomes, and unsustainable consumption practices. Subsequently, it predicts significant environmental pressures that could lead to catastrophic impacts on earth systems and ecological processes, exacerbating the triple planetary climate change crisis, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Moreover, the analysis indicates that without intervention, these trends will likely result in heightened inequality and further degradation of natural resources. Consequently, this scenario paints a stark picture of the future if current practices remain unchanged.
2. Sustainability Transition Scenario: In contrast, this scenario illustrates a pathway towards sustainable resource use, demonstrating that it is possible to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and environmental impacts. It highlights the potential for innovative practices and policies that promote resource efficiency, circular economy principles, and equitable resource access. It outlines key indicators and outcomes associated with this transition, suggesting that significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and material use could be achieved, leading to a more sustainable and equitable future.

Chapter 5

Advocates for sustainable resource use, emphasizing that achieving sustainable prosperity demands immediate and transformative actions. It underscores the necessity of comprehensive and collaborative efforts to ensure a prosperous future for all through sustainable resource management. The chapter presents several key points:

1. Urgency for Action: Stresses the need for a crucial global commitment to a just transformation in resource use. It highlights that current efforts are insufficient and must be accelerated to meet sustainability goals.
2. Barriers to Change: Identifies multiple barriers and lock-ins that hinder progress toward sustainable resource management, including institutional inertia, financial constraints, and entrenched consumption patterns.
3. Critical Actions: Proposes a series of critical actions to facilitate the transition to sustainable resource use. These include:
   • Institutionalizing resource governance and defining clear resource-use pathways.
   • Directing finance towards sustainable initiatives.
   • Leveraging trade to promote sustainable resource practices.
   • Mainstreaming sustainable consumption options.
   • Developing circular, resource-efficient, and low-impact business models.
   • Enhancing the effectiveness of resource-intensive provisioning systems.
4. Holistic Approach: Suggests an integrated approach combining various policy actions across different sectors, emphasizing that coordinated efforts can yield greater benefits than isolated ones.