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Concept
International Resource Panel
Summary
The International Resource Panel is a scientific panel of experts that aims to help nations use natural resources sustainably without compromising economic growth and human needs. It provides independent scientific assessments and expert advice on a variety of areas, including:
the volume of selected raw material reserves and how efficiently these resources are being used
the lifecycle-long environmental impacts of products and services created and consumed around the globe
options to meet human and economic needs with fewer or cleaner resources.
The Secretariat of the IRP is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) through its office in Paris, France.
The Panel has more than 35 expert members drawn from a wide range of academic institutions and scientific disciplines, supported by a small Secretariat hosted by UNEP. It is co-chaired by Janez Potočnik, former European Commissioner for the Environment, and Izabella Teixeira, former Environment Minister of Brazil.
Its Steering Committee is drawn from representatives of governments, the European Commission (EC) and UNEP. It guides the Panel's strategic direction, ensures policy relevance, and oversees budgets.
While climate change and biodiversity loss have emerged as the world's most pressing environmental issues in recent decades, both issues are increasingly being seen as symptomatic of a broader problem of overuse of resources and lack of attention to the impacts on the environment they cause. The resources in question include materials (fossil fuels, biomass, construction minerals and metals), water, land and energy.
The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found that rapid rises in human demands for natural resources have caused substantial and irreversible loss of biodiversity Our current rate of consumption of resources such as fossil fuels, metals, water and timber, is unsustainable and inequitable. WWF has pointed out that if we continue to consume resources at current levels, by 2050 we will need two planet's worth of natural materials to support the human race.
Official source
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