TOO4TO MODULE

Sustainable Resource Management

PART 3

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STRATEGIES AND VISIONS FOR A
SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Management of Resources; Policies and sustainable resource management;
Circular economy; Complexity and interlinkages with other thematises of
Sustainable Development

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Seven principles of sustainable resource
management
1. Secure adequate supply and efficient use of materials, energy and land
resources as a reliable biophysical basis for creation of wealth and well-being
in societies and for future generations
2. Maintain life-supporting functions and services of ecosystems
3. Provide for the basic institutions of societies and their co-existence with nature
4. Minimise risks for security and economic turmoil due to dependence on
resources
5. Contribute to a globally fair distribution of resource use and an adequate
burden sharing
6. Minimise problem shifting between environmental media, types of resources,
economic sectors, regions and generations
7. Drive resource productivity (total material productivity) at a rate higher than
GDP growth
Sustainable Resource Management. Global trends, visions and policies. Bringezu S., Bleischwitz R. 2009

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Strategies towards Sustainable Resource Management

The main means to realize a

sustainable strategy is to de-
couple economic growth from the
use of natural resources and
environmental degradation.
Hence, the aim is to increase the
material productivity of production
and consumption activities.
The following policy initiatives
tackle the topic of sustainable
resource use and apply indicators
based on the concepts of
Economy wide MFA.
Montevecchi, F. Policy Mixes to Achieve Absolute Decoupling: A Case Study of Municipal
Waste Management. Sustainability 2016, 8, 442. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8050442

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Policies towards SRM
2005 Thematic Strategy on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
2011 Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe
2015 Closing the loop –An EU action plan for the Circular Economy
2008 The raw materials initiative
2014 Reviewed list of critical raw materials(CRM)
2011 Communication on raw materials
2017 Reviewed list of CRM
2020 Action plan on CRM. The reviewed list
2020 A European Green Deal. A new Circular Economy action plan
....

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Thematic Strategy on Sustainable Use of Natural
Resources
The strategy emphasizes the importance of integration of environmental
concerns into other policies that affect environmental impacts of natural
resources use.

Efficient use of resources contributes to growth.

• The main objective – Decoupling - To reduce the negative environmental

impacts generated by the use of natural resources in a growing economy

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The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe
(COM(2011) 571)
outlines how we can transform
Europe's economy into a sustainable
one by 2050. It proposes ways to
increase resource productivity and
decouple economic growth from
resource use and its environmental
impact. It illustrates how policies
interrelate and build on each other.
• Key resources are analyzed from
a life-cycle and value-chain
perspective.
• It sets out a vision for the
structural and technological
change needed up to 2050

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EU “Raw Materials Initiative” = EU raw materials
policy COM(2008) 699
Aim: securing sustainable supplies of raw
materials Foster
Launched in 2008, consolidated in 2011 Access to raw
sustainable
Non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials materials on
supply of raw
Connecting EU external and internal policies world markets
materials from
at undistorted
European
conditions
Integrated strategy (3 pillars) sources

Introduced a list of Critical

Raw Materials (CRM) in 2011 and
updated list in 2014, 2017 and 2020) Reduce the EU’s
consumption of
primary raw materials
Policy strongly supported by
EIP on Raw Materials

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First circular economy action plan, 2015

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EU Green Deal, 2020

Aim:
• there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050
• economic growth is decoupled from resource use
• no person and no place is left behind

The European Green Deal is our plan to make the EU's economy
sustainable
• boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular
economy
• restore biodiversity and cut pollution

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Circualr Economy
Action Plan, 2020

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• Sustainable Materials
Management (SMM) is
increasingly recognised as a
policy approach that can make
a key contribution to green
growth and the challenges
that are posed by sustained
global economic and
demogarphic growth.
• One of the key challenges of
the SMM approach is to
effectively address the
environmental impacts that
can occur along the life-cycle
of materials, which frequently
extends across borders and
involves a multitude of
different economic actors.
Sustainable Materials Management. Making Systems view of material flow cycles
Better Use of Resources, OECD, 2012 and policy frameworks, OECD, 2012

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Classification of Resource Management Activities
• According to the EUROSTAT the classification of resource management activities
(CReMA) classifies activities, products, expenditure and other transactions that aim to
preserve and enhance the stock of natural resources.
• Resource management comprises a large variety of activities, including the production
of energy from renewable sources, measures to improve energy efficiency, recovery of
materials, and sustainable management of water and forest resources.
• Resource management activities are: production activities using equipment, labour,
manufacturing techniques, information networks or products, to create goods or
services for managing natural resources.

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Challenges related to resources
based on Winterstetter et al. 2021

To effectively make use of

anthropogenic resources within
the context of a circular economy,
at least 12 challenges have to be
overcome. These challenges
were grouped according to three
aspects:
• ‘resource potential’,
• ‘recovery potential’ and
• ‘utilization potential’
Fig. Challenges faced by anthropogenic resources in a Circular Economy,

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Natural Resource Nexuses in the ECE region, 2021
This publication discusses the complex interactions and feedback loops between human and natural systems
affecting the natural resource base involving seven hotspots and provides several recommendations.

The 2030 Agenda and its
Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) provide an
ambitious and comprehensive
framework that opens new
perspectives for policymaking
and international cooperation.
Its integrated character
highlights the linkages and
complementarities that exist
between different goals and
targets.
At the crossroads of all the United
Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) programmes and
expertise, four high-impact “nexus”
areas have been identified where
multiple SDGs converge:
• Sustainable use of natural
resources
• Sustainable and smart cities for
all ages
• Sustainable mobility and smart
connectivity
• Measuring and monitoring
progress towards the SDGs.

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Natural Resource A conceptual framework for the use
Nexuses in the ECE of natural resources
region (1)

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Natural Resource
Nexuses in the ECE
region (2)
• The Nexus: interlinkages
across resources and the
SDGs

Source: Bleischwitz et al. (2018)

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UNEP
International
Resource
Panel (IRP)

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A global understanding is needed to face
the challenges of providing sustainable
supply bases for world-wide demand of
materials for sustainable technologies and
sustainable development

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Sustainable Resource Managament

• Sustainable development is fundamentally linked to the access

to critical raw materials.

• It is crucial to define objectives on how to competently and

responsibly manage raw materials along the whole value chain,
considering impact on people, planet and prosperity.

• Reliable data and effective policy interventions can only be

developed in a defined framework and require improved
collaboration of all involved actors.

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