UNEP DTIE Energy Branch: Activities

Resource Panel

The International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, or Resource Panel for short, was launched in November 2007 and is expected to provide the scientific impetus for decoupling economic growth and resource use from environmental degradation. The overall objective of the Resource Panel is to provide independent scientific assessment of the environmental impacts due to the use of resources over the full life cycle , and advise governments and organisations on ways to reduce these impacts, by:

Gathering information on the use of renewable and non-renewable resources and related sustainability impacts
The Resource Panel will establish and maintain an up-to-date knowledge base on the use of natural resources and related environmental and other sustainability impacts over the full life-cycle. Tasks will include identifying knowledge gaps and guiding the prioritization of natural resources that should be addressed, as well as building consensus on definitions, indicators, and methodologies for measuring and monitoring progress achieved globally.

Providing scientific assessments on environmental impacts and policy advice on efficient use of natural resources
By means of the established framework and priorities on needs, the Panel will provide scientific assessments of the environmental impacts of selected material flows of these focus areas, based on state-of-the-art scientific knowledge. The findings will be translated into practical advice and recommendations to governments and international organisations on strategies and options for reducing the identified impacts.

A working group on biofuels has been set up to help improve the analytical basis for decision making towards sustainable production and use of biomass for energy purposes ('biofuels') at the international, regional and national levels. Taking a life-cycle and material flow approach, it is expected to crystallize the differences between the most relevant biofuels types (micro perspective) and the overall outcome of production and use considering actual and foreseeable trends (macro perspective), to provide some guidance on options of a more efficient and sustainable use of resources. This will include a comparison over the life-cycle, between different crops, between biofuels and fossil fuels and the different end uses of biomass/biofuels.

For more information, see the UNEP Sustainable Consumption & Production Branch Resource Panel section