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    • Home
    • Sustainability
    • Resilience
    • Disaster Risk
    • Urban Environments
    • SIDS
    • Framework Solutions
  • Home
  • Sustainability
  • Resilience
  • Disaster Risk
  • Urban Environments
  • SIDS
  • Framework Solutions

Materials & Resources

This section provides  papers, in-depth articles and links to websites that provide analysis of how we use and manage our consumption of the world's materials and resources, and what we can do to be more sustainable with them (linked to achieving the SDGs by 2030).

Materials focus

Materials focus: plastic

Materials focus: concrete

Materials focus: concrete

Plastic is an intrinsic part of the world economy – it is virtually everywhere we look. Indeed, we have seen its value to us as the world has had to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

How can we continue to use plastic responsibly and sustainably?

Read the paper

Materials focus: concrete

Materials focus: concrete

Materials focus: concrete

The ubiquitous material of concrete is everywhere we look. Whilst it provides humanity with many benefits, these benefits come at a cost to the sustainability of our planet (as this BBC article also highlights). How can we use it responsibly and sustainably?

Read the paper

Materials focus: steel

Materials focus: concrete

Materials focus: steel

The global production of steel accounts for some 7-9% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Technology exists to improve steel production, and the World Steel Association provides environment and climate change guidance on their website. 

Will the steel industry change?

Read the Paper

Commodities focus

Commodities focus: cocoa

Commodities focus: new ideas

Commodities focus: cocoa

Cacao and cocoa, and the chocolate industry, is a major contributor to the global economy. It supports livelihoods in many developing parts of the world. How can we ensure we keep it sustainable?

Read the Paper

Commodities focus: rice

Commodities focus: new ideas

Commodities focus: cocoa

For more than half the world’s population, rice is on the menu every day. It is a crop that we have come to rely on it heavily. But there’s a catch. Will we have enough water to grow it in future?

Read the article

Commodities focus: new ideas

Commodities focus: new ideas

Commodities focus: new ideas

Researchers are exploring the potential of "ignored crops" - forgotten, under-used or ‘alternative’ - that have been displaced by increasingly uniform diets and processed ingredients from the "major crops".

Read the article

Commodities focus: coffee

Commodities focus: citrus fruit

Commodities focus: new ideas

Coffee pickers have become harder to hire amid the coronavirus pandemic. How has the coffee trade survived COVID-19? What does it take to make a cup of coffee in today's world?

Read the article

Commodities focus: citrus fruit

Commodities focus: citrus fruit

Commodities focus: citrus fruit

We consume citrus fruits all around the world. What efforts are being made globally to ensure that this major commodities group is managed in a sustainable manner?


Find out more

Commodities focus: soya

Commodities focus: citrus fruit

Commodities focus: citrus fruit

The meat and dairy industry’s demand for soya is driving environmental crisis in one of the world’s most threatened forests. This piece highlights the challenges we face in harvesting this bean.

Read the article

Raw materials focus

Resources focus: coal

Resources focus: lithium

Resources focus: lithium

Has coal had its day?

Despite all the efforts to reduce carbon emissions, coal plants are still operating.

How can we move forward in a sustainable manner?

Read the Paper

Resources focus: lithium

Resources focus: lithium

Resources focus: lithium

Lithium is crucial for the transition to renewables, but mining it has been environmentally costly. Now a more sustainable source of lithium has been found deep beneath our feet.

Read the article

Resources focus: copper

Resources focus: lithium

Resources focus: phosphates

The demand for, and use of copper (along with other metals) continues to rise. As the world moves toward a low carbon energy future, how will our use of copper be sustainable and responsible?

Read the Paper

Resources focus: phosphates

Resources focus: phosphates

Resources focus: phosphates

We can’t grow crops without phosphorus. To get it, farmers often rely on fertiliser that is expensive and hard to often obtain. But there might be a more resilient and sustainable way forward.

Read the article

Responsible Raw Materials

Resources focus: phosphates

Responsible Raw Materials

In a rapidly changing world with increasing demand for raw materials, is it possible to make their extraction truly 'responsible'? This initiative is packed with information and perspectives on "RRM".

Go to website

Resources focus: gold

Resources focus: phosphates

Responsible Raw Materials

When it is responsibly managed, gold mining can have a positive impact on socio-economic development in countries where it is found. The World Gold Council describes their approach.

Read on

Energy resources focus

Energy focus: hydrogen

Energy focus: nuclear fusion

Energy focus: nuclear fusion

Our use of hydrogen for energy is not new. However, the way that we are finding out about using it is. How can we use hydrogen responsibly and sustainably as part of our global energy mix?

Read the Paper

Energy focus: nuclear fusion

Energy focus: nuclear fusion

Energy focus: nuclear fusion

Do you know about the ITER project in the South of France? This international effort is focused on producing nuclear fusion, which could be a critical energy source for the future.

Read the interview

Energy focus: oil

Energy focus: big battery technology

Energy focus: big battery technology

Today, a growing number of voices within the fossil fuel industry believe that the world’s appetite for oil might have reached its peak. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and various geopolitical changes leading to yet more demand for oil, will we manage to stop using it?

Read the article

Energy focus: big battery technology

Energy focus: big battery technology

Energy focus: big battery technology

The advent of "big battery" technology addresses a key challenge for green energy – the intermittency of wind and solar. More and more places around the world are taking note.


Read the article

Additional information

What goes into making an iPhone (or similar smartphone)?

Do we ever stop to think about the amount of resources, and energy, that goes into making our modern smartphones, and indeed other electronics that we use?

The carbon footprint of all such devices is growing. This piece "The Life of an iPhone" is a visual story of iPhone production, use and disposal published on ArcGIS.

Go to webpage

The IEA World Energy Outlook 2022

With the world in the midst of the first global energy crisis – triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine – the World Energy Outlook 2022 (WEO) provides indispensable analysis and insights on the implications of this profound and ongoing shock to energy systems across the globe.


Based on the latest energy data and market developments, the 2022 WEO explores key questions about the crisis: Will it be a setback for clean energy transitions or a catalyst for greater action? How might government responses shape energy markets? Which energy security risks lie ahead on the path to net zero emissions?

Go to webpage

An IEA Report on clean energy for emerging and developing economies

The world’s energy and climate future increasingly hinges on whether emerging and developing economies are able to successfully transition to cleaner energy systems, calling for a step change in global efforts to mobilise and channel the massive surge in investment that is required, according to a report released in June 2021 by the International Energy Agency.

Go to webpage

All the world's metals and minerals in one infographic

This infographic by Visual Capitalist provides a very good overview of the resources we use, and which ones dominate our consumption habits today.

Go to webpage

A global breakdown of greenhouse gas emissions by sector

This infographic by Visual Capitalist shows the split of greenhouse gases today.

Go to webpage

Follow the Food - a series by The BBC

This webpage provides a range of articles and papers on how we can maintain a sustainable food industry for the future.

Go to webpage

Geoscience and the hydrogen economy

This paper by The Geological Society provides an overview of how geology can play its part towards helping to successfully integrate hydrogen into the world's energy mix.

Go to webpage

Could plastic roads make for a smoother ride?

From lower carbon emissions to fewer potholes, there are a number of benefits to building a layer of plastic into roads.

Read the article

The top export of every country

This infographic by Visual Capitalist shows the exports of resources around the world - which is also an indication of the environmental positions of countries.

Go to webpage

Denmark to build 'first energy island' in North Sea

This piece by The BBC describes a project to build a giant island which will provide  energy for three million households in Denmark. The world's first energy island will be as big as 18 football pitches (120,000 sq.m), and it may be expanded to be three times that size.

Read the article

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