To the world’s efforts on climate change, the Co-Chairs of the International Resource Panel add the missing piece: the strategies to reduce and improve our use of Earth’s natural resources.
Janez Potočnik and Izabella Teixeira work together as Co‑Chairs of the United Nations Environment Programme – International Resource Panel (IRP). And, for over a decade, the two friends have been negotiators for the UN’s sustainability conferences and conventions. Now, they have distilled that experience into clear, science-based principles.
This publication was written by the Co-Chairs and expands on the IRP’s Opinion Piece on climate, released in July 2022. They show why runaway demand for resources is a huge but overlooked cause of our triple planetary crisis: on climate, pollution and biodiversity loss. But they also provide a picture of hope. Smarter natural resource use can deliver solutions for all countries, and address all aspects of the crisis together.
Four strategic dimensions can improve our resource efficiency while maintaining human wellbeing:
Sharing lessons from past and present roles, and based on powerful evidence from the IRP and beyond, the Co-Chairs call for global action. Governments must apply resource efficiency broadly, going beyond decarbonization to reduce the overall use of natural resources according to their country’s circumstances. We can reverse environmental pressures and impacts, while achieving the prosperity and wellbeing we need.
IRP Co-Chair Opinion Piece
Extended IRP Co-Chair Opinion Piece
Janez Potocnik is a Systemiq partner as well as an IRP Co-Chair. The Opinion Piece was developed with the help of Systemiq, and was supported by IRP’s strategic partner, the SUN Foundation.
The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication, which do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the United Nations Environment Programme or the IRP.
