A version of this post first appeared on BusinessGreen.
Resource prices have been in the news again of late, although this time for the refreshing reason that they’ve been tumbling instead of skyrocketing. Falls in food and transport prices have led to the lowest inflation rate since records began and underpinned the first steady rise in real wages in five years. Read more
I wrote about Chatham House’s report on resource futures last month, which provides a detailed and comprehensive look at how underlying environmental stress contributes to material insecurity.
Green Alliance’s contention is that addressing material insecurity means tackling the underlying environmental stresses causing it, through the development of a circular economy. But as I said last month, there isn’t yet a plan to encourage a circular economy. To develop one, we need to understand where circular systems make the most sense. Read more
Dustin Benton is a senior policy adviser at Green Alliance, leading the Resource Stewardship theme.
Last week, Chatham House added to the drumbeat of concern about resources, declaring that ‘the spectre of resource insecurity has come back with a vengeance.’ In its dense, persuasive report, Resource futures, Chatham House’s researchers diagnose the problems posed by increasing resource insecurity in detail, systematically identifying the causes of insecurity. This is an expansive analysis, and a major achievement, but the recommendations made in the report have the air of the outcomes of international climate talks: frameworks and processes to find solutions rather than actual solutions. Read more
