Topic 7: Natural resources

• Raw materials and energy sources used by society • Sunlight, air, water, land, rocks, ecosystems, living things

• Stock of natural resources on Earth

• Goods: fish, timber • Services: climate regulation, flood prevention

• Terms imply particular perspective on nature • Model for sustainable resource use

• Life-supporting services • Water replenishment, flood/erosion protection • Pollution mitigation, carbon sequestration

• All resources finite • Renewable: regenerated as fast as used • Non-renewable: cannot be regenerated • Renewable becomes non-renewable if used beyond regeneration rate

• Aesthetic, cultural, economic, environmental • Health, intrinsic, social, spiritual, technological

• The value of natural capital is dynamic in that it can change over time • Include: a variety of reasons for both increases and decreases in value, along with two named examples of change over time • Consider, e.g., coal, lithium, cobalt, whale oil, cork

• The use of natural capital needs to be managed in order to ensure sustainability • The long-term well-being of ecosystems and humans depends on resources not being used more rapidly than they can be regenerated • Include: examples to illustrate how ecosystems and societies could be harmed by excessive harvesting of resources and by the release of polluting waste products

• Resource security depends on the ability of societies to ensure the long-term availability of sufficient natural resources to meet demand • Consider: the extent to which resource security in two contrasting named societies has been achieved for food or water

• The choices a society makes in using given natural resources are affected by many factors and reflect diverse perspectives • Factors affecting such choices may include economic, sociocultural, political, environmental, geographical, technological and historical factors • International agreements cutting GHG emissions with the aim of achieving net zero emissions changes the priority of these choices • Consider: factors affecting the local choice of a named natural resource

• A range of different management and intervention strategies can be used to directly influence society’s use of natural capital • Government management could include national action plans for SDGs • Government intervention could include strategies to reduce or stop the use of certain natural capital goods and services such as taxes, fines and legislation • For example, increasing the price of fossil fuels and carbon emission restrictions

• The SDGs provide a framework for action by all countries in global partnership for natural resources use and management

• Addresses sustainable resource management in development projects • Surveys, audits, continued monitoring

• Different by country and region • Baseline studies predict impacts, suggest mitigation

• Allow citizens as stakeholders in decision-making

• Resource may be renewable • Extraction/harvesting/transport/processing may be unsustainable

• Favour short-term responses • Undermine long-term sustainability • Example: resource depletion

• Hinders socio-economic development • Environmental degradation, geopolitical tensions/conflicts • Examples: oil (OPEC), minerals (lithium, cobalt, rare earth)

• Reduce demand, increase supply, change technologies

• Increases supply, increases interdependence • May reduce national resource security

• Renewable: wind, solar, tidal, wood, geothermal, hydropower • Non-renewable: nuclear, fossil fuels

• Population increase, per capita demand • Fossil fuels dominate, renewables increasing

• Varies significantly • Both types have environmental costs

• Factors: sustainability, cost, pollution, efficiency, availability, security

• Some renewables require energy storage • Solutions: batteries, pumped hydroelectricity, fuel cells, thermal storage

• Reduce dependence on imports • Behavioural changes, efficient technologies

• Access to affordable and reliable energy sources • Improved by efficiency, diversification, reducing imports

• Global economy depends on finite reserves • Coal, oil, natural gas

• Non-renewable, low-carbon electricity production • Fission reactions (uranium/plutonium) • Advantages: low-cost, constant, low-carbon • Disadvantages: mining impacts, thermal pollution, accident risk, radioactive waste

• Large-scale needed for emission reduction • Requires: lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements • Mining/processing create pollution, geopolitical tensions

7.3.1Waste classification

• Source: domestic, industrial, agricultural • Type: e-waste, food, biohazardous materials

7.3.2Solid domestic waste (SDW)

• Diverse content: paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastics • Organic matter, packaging, construction debris, clothing

7.3.3Waste variation

• Over time and between societies • Due to socio-economic, political, environmental, technological factors

7.3.4Waste impacts

• Environmental and social • May occur in different location from generation • Environmental injustice: high to low-income countries

7.3.5Ecosystem waste absorption

• Can absorb some waste • Pollution: harmful substances added faster than transformed

7.3.6Preventative vs. restorative strategies

• Preventative more sustainable • Preventative: alter behaviour, control release • Restorative: clean-up and restoration

7.3.7Waste disposal options

• Landfill, incineration, waste-to-energy • Exporting waste, recycling, composting • Each has advantages and disadvantages

7.3.8Promoting sustainable SDW management

• Taxes, incentives, social policies, legislation • Education, campaigns, improved disposal access

7.3.9Circular economy and waste

• Holistic perspective on sustainable waste management • From manufacture to product recovery