The Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: The Governance Challenge

This policy brief examines the governance challenges associated with the sustainable use of natural resources, highlighting the gap between the principles established in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration and current global trends of over-exploitation and inequitable distribution.

• Global material demand has increased significantly since 1970, with the average per capita demand rising from 7.4 tons to 12.2 tons by 2017. This growth is unevenly distributed; high-income countries have a per capita material footprint of 27 tons, which is thirteen times higher than the 2 tons per capita in low-income countries.
• Natural resource extraction and processing are major drivers of environmental degradation, accounting for over 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress, and 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Current global resource governance is characterized by a complex and sometimes conflicting web of national laws, intergovernmental agreements, and industry initiatives. For example, the Energy Charter Treaty has been used by corporations to challenge coal phase-out decisions that align with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
• Structural inequalities persist in resource access and tenure security, disproportionately affecting women, Indigenous Peoples, and rural communities. While 164 countries recognize women's land rights in some form, only 52 guarantee these rights in both law and practice.
• Indigenous Peoples face ongoing challenges in having their rights recognized, leading to legal disputes in Canada, Finland, and Sweden over the balance between state sovereignty and Indigenous rights to self-determination and customary resource use.
• Transitioning to a circular economy—moving from a linear "extract-use-discard" model to a "waste-as-a-resource" model—is essential. Adopting circular methods for cement, steel, plastic, and aluminium could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2050.
• To achieve sustainable resource governance, the document recommends that governments implement extended producer responsibility, supply chain legislation, and inclusive decision-making processes that incorporate the ecological knowledge of women, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities.

APA

Bansard, J., & Schröder, M. (2021). The Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: The Governance Challenge. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-04/still-one-earth-natural-resources.pdf

Chicago

Bansard, Jennifer, and Mika Schröder. The Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: The Governance Challenge. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-04/still-one-earth-natural-resources.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bansard |first1=Jennifer |last2=Schröder |first2=Mika |title=The Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: The Governance Challenge |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=April 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-04/still-one-earth-natural-resources.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bansard2021sustainable, author = {Bansard, Jennifer and Schröder, Mika}, title = {{The Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: The Governance Challenge}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-04/still-one-earth-natural-resources.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }