RT Report
T1 Global Material Flows and Resource Productivity: Assessment Report for the UNEP International Resource Panel
A1 United Nations Environment Programme, 
K1 sustainable consumption
K1 resource conservation
K1 Australia
K1 Brazil
K1 Chile
K1 China
K1 Egypt
K1 France
K1 Germany
K1 Honduras
K1 India
K1 Indonesia
K1 Japan
K1 Mexico
K1 Nigeria
K1 Pakistan
K1 Poland
K1 Russian federation
K1 Saudi Arabia
K1 South Africa
K1 United States
K1 Viet Nam
SN 978-92-807-3554-3
YR 2016
FD 2016
LK https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/21557
UL https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/21557
NO This report finds that global material use has tripled over the past four decades, with annual global extraction of materials growing from 22 billion tonnes (1970) to 70 billion tonnes (2010). It also provides a new material footprint indicator, reporting the amount of materials that are required for final consumption, which sheds light on the true impact of economies. By relating global supply chains to final demand for resources, the indicator is a good proxy for the average material standard of living in a country. It indicates that the level of development and well-being in wealthy industrial countries has been achieved largely through highly resource-intensive patterns of consumption and production, which are not sustainable, even less replicable to other parts of the world.
NO https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-material-flows-and-resource-productivity-assessment-report-unep
DS UN Environment Document Repository
RD Sep 22, 2026