Reports

Human Migration and Natural Resources

The science is crystal clear that humanity currently faces triple planetary crises: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. One of the main issues of concern in relation to...

Trends and Outlook of Natural Resource Use in West Asia

This report aims to provide policy makers in West Asia with insights on the trends and outlook for natural resource use and environmental impacts in the region. The report marks the...

Upcoming Work

Learn more about what the International Resource Panel is currently working on.

Making Climate Targets Achievable

To the world’s efforts to address climate change, IRP Co-Chairs Janez Potočnik and Izabella Teixeira add an indispensable missing piece: resource efficiency strategies to reduce and...

Urban Agriculture’s Potential to Advance Multiple Sustainability Goals

This Think Piece evaluates to what extent, and in which conditions, urban agriculture can enhance the sustainability of urban-rural food systems and promote a circular economy in...

Policy Options to Eliminate Additional Marine Plastic Litter

The think piece provides policy options to reduce marine plastic litter and achieve the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision, which voluntarily commits G20 countries to “reduce additional pollution...

A Global Manual on Economy Wide Material Flow Accounting

This Manual builds upon the existing experiences of compiling economy-wide material flow accounts in Europe and provides global guidance on compile material flow accounts which can be...

Governing Coastal Resources

The report draws together an evidence base that demonstrates beyond question the need for enhanced governance coordination between terrestrial activities and marine resources.

Building Biodiversity

To the world’s efforts to restore and regenerate nature, IRP Co-Chairs Janez Potočnik and Izabella Teixeira add the single-biggest missing piece: natural resource management.

Catalysing Science-Based Policy Action on Sustainable Consumption and Production

This report from the International Resource Panel and the One Planet network explains the ‘Value-Chain Approach’ methodology and shares findings from its application to three critical...

Resource Efficiency and Climate Change

This report conducts a rigorous assessment of the contribution of material efficiency to GHG abatement strategies. More concretely, it assesses the reduction potential of GHG emissions...

Sustainable Trade in Resources

This report looks at trade flows of material resources and their environmental impacts. It also demonstrates how both multilateral trade rules and regional trade agreements can be used...

Building Resilient Societies after the Covid-19 Pandemic

This document provides policy recommendations extracted from IRP research over the past 10 years to drive a resource smart recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, generating socio-...

Natural Resource Use in the Group of 20: Status, trends, and solutions

Dissemination materials from the International Resource Panel

Land Restoration for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Land restoration has tremendous potential to help the world limit climate change and achieve its aims for sustainable development. In its latest study, the International Resource...

Global Resources Outlook

Through a combination of resource efficiency, climate mitigation, carbon removal, and biodiversity protection policies, this report finds that it is feasible and possible to grow...

Mineral Resource Governance in the 21st Century

The mining sector, if carefully managed, presents enormous opportunities for advancing sustainable development particularly in low-income countries, the International Resource Panel...

Re-defining Value – The Manufacturing Revolution

Re-thinking how we manufacture industrial products and deal with them at the end of their useful life could provide breakthrough environmental, social and economic benefits. Adopting...

Resource Efficiency for Sustainable Development

A think piece from the International Resource Panel.

The Weight of Cities

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shift future urbanization on to a more environmentally sustainable and socially just path. The Weight of Cities suggests a new approach to...

Assessing Global Resource Use

Better and more efficient production and use of natural resources can be one of the most cost-efficient and effective ways to reduce impacts on the environment (including pollution)...

Green Technology Choices

What happens when low-carbon electricity supply technologies are deployed alongside energy efficiency technologies? The International Resource Panel's assessment looks at the...

Resource Efficiency

This report analyzes four paths that countries could take over the next three decades, ranging from business as usual to a scenario where countries adopt both ambitious climate...

Global Material Flows and Resource Productivity (with database link)

Growing concern about assuring affordable, equitable and environmentally sustainable access to natural resources is well founded. In this report we show global natural resource use...

Decoupling 2

This report explores technological possibilities and opportunities for both developing and developed countries to accelerate decoupling and reap the environmental and economic benefits...

Unlocking the Sustainable Potential of Land Resources:

Land resources are one of nature’s most precious gifts. They feed us and help our societies and economies to thrive. This report examines how to better evaluate and use the potential...

Food Systems and Natural Resources

Food systems depend on natural resources. But population growth, and dietary changes due to growing wealth, are creating pressures on those resources. Transforming our food systems is...

Options for Decoupling Economic Growth from Water Use and Water Pollution

To head off a looming water crisis, meet demand, and sustain growth and human wellbeing, decoupling water from economic growth is essential. The report shows a package of policy and...

Green Energy Choices: the Benefits, Risks and Trade-Offs of Low-Carbon Technologies for Electricity Production

Low-carbon electricity generation could help meet demand while reducing climate change effects. But new technologies could create new environmental problems. This report aids informed...

10 Key Messages on Climate Change

This note draws on the findings of the United Nations’ expert panel on natural resources – the International Resource Panel (IRP) – to highlight some key policy-relevant messages on...

International Trade in Resources

International trade is indispensable for countries to meet demand for resources not available, accessible or affordable domestically. This report looks at implications of rapidly...

Policy Coherence of the Sustainable Development Goals

Building Natural Capital: How REDD+ Can Support a Green Economy

This report, on the status and future potential of REDD+, describes the benefits of forests and other ecosystems as a way of demonstrating that forests have multiple values beyond...

Managing and Conserving the Natural Resource Base for Sustained Economic and Social Development

This think piece presents the International Resource Panel's reflection on the establishment of Sustainable Development Goals aimed at decoupling economic growth from escalating...

Assessing Global Land Use

This report examines the impacts of global trends - population growth, urbanization, changes in diets and consumption behaviours - on global land use, considering biodiversity, the...

Environmental Risks and Challenges of Anthropogenic Metals Flows and Cycles

Metal production is responsible for 7-8% of global energy use as well severe environmental impacts. Recycling would decrease both, but even if recycling increased, rising global demand...

City-Level Decoupling

Most resource consumption takes place in cities. How a city is designed shapes how its inhabitants use transport, energy and water, and dispose of waste. The challenge is to build...

Metal Recycling

A global move to a Product-Centric approach, in which recycling targets specific components of a product and devises ways to separate and recover them, is essential. This report...

Measuring Water Use in a Green Economy

How do we meet the water, energy, land and material needs of up to 9 billion people, while keeping climate change, biodiversity loss and health threats within planetary boundaries?

Responsible Resource Management for a Sustainable World

This report brings together highlights of five previous reports to enable policy-makers and business leaders to begin decoupling economic activity from resource use to allow the global...

Recycling Rates of Metals

Recycling rates of metals are far lower than potential for reuse. Less than one-third of 60 studied have a recycling rate above 50 per cent, though many are crucial to clean...

Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth

We are using unsustainable amounts of the Earth’s natural resources. We need to improve the rate of resource productivity (“doing more with less”) faster than the economic growth rate...

Metal Stocks in Society

A key question that relates to the very broad and intensive use of metals is whether society needs to be concerned about long-term supplies of any or many of them. To examine this...

Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production

This report gives a scientific assessment of which global environmental problems present the biggest challenges, and weighs up the impacts of various economic activities to identify...

Assessing Biofuels

This report provides a robust assessment of key problems of production and use of biomass for energy purposes and options for more efficient and sustainable production and use of...