The size of the world economy is expected to double and world population to grow by one-third by 2030. With rising income and living standards, global consumption of fossil fuels, minerals, metals, timber and food crops is also growing, generating pressures on natural resources and the environment.
But prosperity does not need to increase the “weight of nations”, i.e. the amount of material resources that economies consume. By reducing, reusing and recycling (the 3Rs) materials, economies can reduce the need for virgin materials and improve resource efficiency. Significant progress has been achieved in improving resource productivity in the G8 and in the OECD over the past 30 years, but further efforts are needed to reduce the material consumption of our economies.
The report “Resource Productivity in the G8 and the OECD” (also available in French), responds to a request by G8 Environment Ministers at their meeting in Kobe in 2008, presents an evaluation of progress on resource productivity. It highlights key trends and main policy developments related to resource productivity in OECD countries, with a particular focus on efforts to implement sustainable materials management; and identifies the main policy challenges and opportunities and discusses the steps that need to be taken to achieve further progress.
DMC : Domestic Material Consumption
GDP : Gross Domestic Product
Some of the conclusions of the report are that:
OECD Council Recommendation on Resource Productivity [C(2008)40]