Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth : a report of the working group on decoupling to the international resource panel

The report focuses on the extraction of four categories of primary raw materials  – construction minerals, ores and industrial minerals, fossil fuels, and biomass – which together are estimated to be harvested at a rate of 47 to 59 billion metric tons (47–59 Gt) per year (2005 data), with continued increases into the future a clear tendency. The steady increase in the use of these raw materials has been accompanied, or
perhaps prompted, by continuously declining prices of most of these categories of resources. Declining prices may be interpreted as reflecting increasing supply, but are more likely to reflect more efficient means of extraction and structurally weak market positions for certain resource- rich resource-exporting developing countries. On the other hand, many critical resources are becoming more expensive to extract, with petroleum in the Arctic and in the open sea being outstanding examples. More recently, at least some of these resources are showing greater price volatility, which may support a more rapid transition based on the decoupling of growth rates from rates of resource use and negative
environmental impacts. [authors abstract]