Measuring resource consumption and productivity

Duration 2015–2018

Institute Institute for Ecological Economics

Department Department of Socioeconomics External Commonwealth Scientific and partners Industrial Research Organisation, Nagoya University, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, University of Sydney

The global consumption of natural resources has increased enormously over the last 40 years, roughly quadrupling since 1970. Additionally, relative decoupling was last observed in 2002, which means resource consumption has grown faster than global gross domestic product since then. International trade in raw materials is growing at an even faster rate than global resource consumption. There is a clear distinction between regions of the world that are net raw material importers (Europe and North America) and all other regions that are net exporters. At 20 to 30 tons per person, Europeans’ annual consumption of raw materials is about ten times higher than that of people in low-income countries in Africa or Asia.

The research project generated the first globally harmonized database for resource consumption and productivity, two key issues that impact sustainable development.

Funded by the United Nations’ International Resource Panel (IRP), the research project explored possible methods for measuring resource consumption and productivity in all countries worldwide.

The resulting data could then serve as foundation for evaluating the progress of specific SDGs, in particular SDG 8.4 “Resource efficiency in consumption and production” and SDG 12.2 “Sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.” A harmonized global database on resource extraction, trade, and consumption was compiled that covered all countries worldwide from 1970 to 2015. A manual was also drafted as part of the project to assist national institutions (like statistical offices) in collecting this type of data to better track and analyze material flows.

The database is publicly available on the UN International Resource Panel website and serves as a basis for designing and evaluating national policies that promote SDG fulfillment.

The project generated the first consistent empirical basis for measuring resource consumption on a global scale. This foundation is essential for monitoring a number of SDG objectives (e.g. SDG 8.4 “Resource efficiency in consumption and production” and SDG 12.2 “Sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources”). The extraction of raw materials also has an impact on water and land use and thus affects SDG 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation,” and SDG 15 “Life on Land,” respectively. In addition, the generated database supports the monitoring of SDG 14 “Life below water” by including information about marine fish catch. The database was made publicly available on the UN International Resource Panel website (bit.ly/resourcepanel), and the IRP issued press releases in English, French, Spanish, and Chinese on the database and the subsequent report. The database can be used as

a basis for designing and evaluating national policies. It can help identify high resource consumption hot spots in a domestic economy, which should be prioritized in policy instrument development. It can also be used to evaluate whether current policy instruments are sufficient for decoupling economic growth and resource consumption, and provides a starting point for studies on interactions between resource consumption and harmful emissions and resources and biodiversity/ecosystems. Furthermore, the database is compatible with economic models, so it can highlight the environmental dimension in economic scenario evaluations. The manual drafted during the project is expected to become an international standard for creating material flow balance sheets in the coming years and is likely to find widespread application, especially by national statistical institutes.

Creation of an empirical basis for global monitoring of resource extraction, trade, and consumption

Database and manual for national and international monitoring of resource extraction, trade, and consumption

Incorporation of the database into policy design and evaluation and a contribution to the harmonization of national material flow balance sheets