By Dare Akogun
Extraction of Earth’s resources tripled over the past five decades, driven by global infrastructure development and high material consumption, particularly in upper-middle and high-income nations.
Material extraction is projected to surge by 60% by 2060, posing threats to global climate, biodiversity, and pollution targets, according to a UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-hosted International Resource Panel report.
The 2024 Global Resource Outlook, presented during the UN Environment Assembly’s sixth session, urges substantial policy shifts to constrain resource use growth by one-third while fostering economic growth, enhancing well-being, and minimizing environmental impacts.
Resource use has soared from 30 to 106 billion tonnes since 1970, resulting in profound environmental repercussions. Resource extraction and processing contribute to over 60% of planet-warming emissions and 40% of health-related air pollution impacts.
The report underscores inequalities in resource consumption, with low-income nations using six times fewer materials and generating ten times fewer climate impacts than their high-income counterparts.
Upper-middle-income nations have doubled resource use over the past 50 years due to infrastructure expansion and relocation of resource-intensive processes from high-income countries.
To address these challenges, the report advocates for policy interventions to promote sustainable resource use, including institutionalizing resource governance, redirecting finance towards sustainability, and mainstreaming sustainable consumption options.
Moreover, circular and low-impact solutions can transform built environments, mobility, food, and energy systems, leading to an upsurge in renewable energy adoption, material decarbonization, and reduced food loss and waste.
Implementation of these policies is projected to peak resource extraction by 2040 and decrease use to only 20% above 2020 levels by 2060, accompanied by an over 80% drop in greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in human development indices.
The report emphasizes the urgency of immediate actions to address the triple planetary crisis, urging adherence to the principle of ‘best available science’ in policymaking and implementation.
