The International Resource Panel (IRP) is a global science-policy platform established by
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2007 to build and share knowledge
needed to improve our use of natural resources. It includes scientists and governments from both developed and developing regions, civil society, industrial and international organizations.
The Panel’s goal is to steer us away from overconsumption, waste and ecological harm to a more prosperous and sustainable future. The IRP investigates the world’s most critical resource issues with a view to supporting all stakeholders to improve resource efficiency - a necessary condition to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The IRP reports distil the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic findings around global resource use. They provide advice and connections between policymakers, industry and civil society on ways to improve global and local resource management.
The IRP has already worked on a number of key themes including: global resource use, material flow analysis, trade, decoupling, cities, minerals and metals, food, land, and biodiversity, marine and water resources, SDGs and resources.
The Panel is currently focusing its work on four high-impact priority areas:
- current trends and future prospects of natural resources;
- resource efficiency and climate change;
- socioeconomic implications of natural resource use;
- links between sustainable resource management, migration and conflict.
Download the IRP overview brochure: English │ French │ Spanish
In response to COVID-19 crisis, the IRP has produced Building Resilient Societies after the COVID-19 Pandemic, which provides policy recommendations extracted from IRP research over the past 10 years to drive a resource smart recovery from the pandemic, generating socio-economic value while safeguarding the environment.
Visit the International Resource Panel website
