This synopsis highlights key findings from the following reports of the International Resource Panel: A) Priority products and materials: assessing the environmental impacts of consumption and production; B) Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth; C) Metal Stocks in Society; D) Recycling Rates of Metals; and E) Assessing biofuels: towards sustainable production and use of resources. Over the next two years, the IRP will deepen its assessments of consumption and production, decoupling, metals and biomass. It will deliver further reports on water, soil and land use and environmental impacts of trade.

The knowledge base that the IRP provides supports policy makers and business leaders as they embark on the journey of decoupling economic activity from resource use and emissions to enable the global economy to operate within the limits of the Earth’s resources, climate and ecosystems, while providing equal opportunity and wellbeing to a projected nine billion people on this planet.