RESOURCES

Key resources referenced in this online training programme are presented below. Additional and new publications on the Resource Revolution and resource productivity innovations in business will be added in future. We start with the three core publications that form the basis of the training content of this online course.

IRP Decoupling I (2011) and IRP Decoupling II (2014) Reports

In its first Decoupling report, the IRP showed that breaking the link between human well-being and resource consumption is necessary and possible but in reality is hardly happening. In the follow-up Decoupling II report the IRP highlighted existing technological possibilities and opportunities for both developing and developed markets to accelerate decoupling and reap the integrated benefits of increased resource productivity. The IRP highlights that many decoupling technologies and techniques that deliver significant resource productivity increases are already commercially available and used in countries at various stage of development world-wide.

Resource Revolution (Amazon 2014) by Stefan Heck and Matt Rogers

In Resource Revolution, management experts Stefan Heck and Matt Rogers describe how a range of technological innovations, from construction equipment and solar energy to electrical vehicles and fast fashion, exemplify a resource revolution. They illustrate a use of natural resources so effective it defies conventional wisdom and enables breakthrough performance where others see only limits and shortcomings. The book shows how to take what is being seen as a worldwide crisis and turn it into the biggest business opportunity of the past one hundred years. The book is available at Amazon books.

Reports by the International Resource Panel (IRP), capturing recent research by of scientists world-wide, can be found on the website of the World Resource Forum (WRF) at www.wrforum.org/publications-2/partner-publications/unep-irp-publications/ as all well as at the website of the of the IRP (weblinks provided below). Links to related business and technology publications are also provided for the list appearing below.

International Resource Panel (IRP) Reports

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2018. The Weight of Cities: Resource Requirements of Future Urbanization. Nairobi: UNEP – See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/weight-cities

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2017. Assessing global resource use: A systems approach to resource efficiency and pollution reduction. Nairobi: UNEP – See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/assessing-global-resource-use

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2017. Green Technology Choices: The Environmental and Resource Implications of Low-Carbon Technologies. Nairobi: UNEP – See online http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/green-technology-choices

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2016. Food Systems and Natural Resources. A Report of the Working Group on Food Systems of the International Resource Panel. Nairobi: UNEP – See online http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/food-systems-and-natural-resources

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2016. Green Energy Choices: The benefits, risks and trade-offs of low-carbon technologies for electricity production. Nairobi: UNEP – See online http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/green-energy-choices-benefits-risks-and-trade-offs-low-carbon-technologies-electricity

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2015. International Trade in Resources: A Biophysical Assessment. Nairobi: UNEP – See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/international-trade-resources

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2014. Decoupling II: Technologies, Opportunities and Policy Options. Nairobi, Paris: UNEP – See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/decoupling-2

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2014. Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply. Nairobi, Paris: UNEP – See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/assessing-global-land-use

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2013. Metals Recycling: Opportunities, Limits, Infrastructure. Nairobi, Paris: UNEP. - See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/metal-recycling

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2013. City Level Decoupling: Urban Resource Flows and the Governance of Infrastructure Transitions. Nairobi, Paris: UNEP. – See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/city-level-decoupling

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2012. Measuring Water Use in a Green Economy. Nairobi, Paris: UNEP. See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/measuring-water-use-green-economy

UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). 2011. Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth. Nairobi, Paris: UNEP. See online here http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/decoupling-natural-resource-use-and-environmental-impacts-economic-growth

Business and technology publications

Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, Trucost et.al. (2014) Impacts of the Cradle-to-Cradle Certified Products Programme – Technical Report. San Francisco, London: C2Ccertified and Trucost – See online here www.c2ccertified.org/impact-study

Elkington, John. 2012. The Zeronauts: Breaking the Sustainability Barrier. New York: Routledge. See online at http://thezeronauts.com

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2013. Towards the Circular Economy. Isle of Wight: EMF. See online at www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications

Hart, S. 1997. “Beyond Greening – Strategies for a Sustainable World” in Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 1997. – See online at https://hbr.org/1997/01/beyond-greening-strategies-for-a-sustainable-world

Lovins, Amory; Lovins, Hunter and Hawken, Paul. 1999. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. New York: Little, Brown & Company. – See online at www.natcap.org

McDonough, William and Braungart, Michael. 2002. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: Melcher Media – See online at www.cradletocradle.com

McKinsey & Company. 2016. The Circular Economy: Moving from Theory to Practice. New York: McKinsey & Company Center for Business and Environment. – See online at www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/our-insights

MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group. 2011. Sustainability: The “Embracers” Seize Advantage. Findings from the 2010 Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study. Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology and BCG. – See online at http://sloanreview.mit.edu/reports/sustainability-advantage/

Oppenheim, Jeremy, Dobbs, Richard and Thompson, Fraser. 2011. The Resource Revolution: Meeting the world’s energy, materials, food, and water needs. New York: McKinsey & Co. Global Institute – See online at www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/our-insights/resource-revolution

Pauli, Gunter. 2010. Blue Economy-10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs. Taos: Paradigm Publications. – See online at www.theblueeconomy.org

Porter, M. and Heppelmann, J. 2015. “How Smart, Connected Products are Transforming Competition” and “How Smart, Connected Products are Transforming Companies” in Harvard Business Review, November 2014 and October 2015 – See online at https://hbr.org/2015/10/how-smart-connected-products-are-transforming-companies

Porter, M and Van der Linde, C. 1995. “Green and Competitive” in Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct 1995, p pp 20 – 34; and “Toward a new conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship” in Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol 9 No 4, pp 97 – 118. See online at https://hbr.org/1995/09/green-and-competitive-ending-the-stalemate

Schumacher, E.F. 1973. Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. London: Blond & Briggs / HarperCollins. – See online at www.amazon.com/Small-Beautiful-Economics-People-Mattered/dp/0061997765

Von Weizsaecker, E.U., Hargroves, C., Smith, M.H., Desha, C. and Stasinopoulos, P. 2009. Factor 5: Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Increase in Resource Productivity. London: Earthscan. – See online at www.naturaledgeproject.net/factor5.aspx

The Resource Revolution Trainer

Coupling Sustainability with Excellence. An online self- training guide for business.