UNEP, International Resource Panel

This report provides, for the first time, a comprehensive global-scale assessment of the benefits, risks, and trade-offs of energy efficiency technologies and their combined effects when deployed alongside low-carbon electricity supply technologies. The results of the report show that the majority of efficiency technologies, used for mobility, buildings and industry, bring environmental co-benefits beyond greenhouse gas mitigation, including reduced impacts on the environment, health and natural resources.

The resource use implications and environmental impacts of our food systems are significant. In general, of all economic activities, the food sector has by far the largest impact on natural resource use as well as on the environment. The Food Systems working group of the International Resource Panel has prepared a comprehensive scientific assessment of the current status and dynamics of natural resource use in food systems and their environmental impacts.

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 addresses the challenges of recycling increasingly complex products.

The Weight of Cities calls for a new strategy for 21st century urbanization: resource efficiency and social inclusion must become the focus of urban development strategies if we want to stand a chance of achieving the 2030 Development Agenda as well as the New Urban Agenda.

There is growing international interest in the concept of circular economy as a framework for pursuing sustainable economic growth and human prosperity. A key aspect of circular economy is the concept of value-retention within economic production-consumption systems. Processes such as remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair and arranging direct reuse enable the retention of value, and in some cases the creation of new value for both the producer and customer, at a reduced environmental impact.

There is growing international interest in the concept of circular economy as a framework for pursuing sustainable economic growth and human prosperity. A key aspect of circular economy is the concept of value-retention within economic production-consumption systems. Processes such as remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair and arranging direct reuse enable the retention of value, and in some cases the creation of new value for both the producer and customer, at a reduced environmental impact.

The report analyses the different ways for quantifying and accounting for water flows and productivity within the economy (including environmental needs). Based on the data, the report is said to provide the current state of knowledge of the different indicators and tools for quantifying water productivity and highlights why this is important for developing robust allocation and management systems that preserve the natural capital.

This publication is an excerpt of the report, "Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth : a report of the working group on decoupling to the International Resource Panel".

This report provides a solid foundation for the concept of decoupling, clearly defining key terms and providing empirical evidence of escalating resource use. It shows that decoupling is already taking place to some extent, but is lagging far behind its potential. The scenarios show that we are facing a historic choice about how we use resources and the report scopes the potential of innovation, rethinking economic growth and the role of cities in building more resource efficient economies.