The initial perspective on the Future of Resources kicked off the Future Agenda 2.0 global discussions taking place through 2015. This summary builds on the initial view and is updated as we progress the futureagenda2.0 programme. www.futureagenda.org

1. The
Future
of
Resources
Insights
from
Discussions
Building
on
an
Ini4al
Perspec4ve
by:
Prof.
Suzanne
Benn
|
UTS
Business
School
|
Sydney

2. Context
The
ini4al
perspec4ve
on
the
Future
of
Resources
kicked
off
the
Future
Agenda
2.0
global
discussions
taking
place
through
2015.
This
summary
builds
on
the
ini4al
view
and
is
updated
as
we
progress.
Ini4al
Perspec4ves
Q4
2014
Global
Discussions
Q1/2
2015
Insight
Synthesis
Q3
2015
Sharing
Output
Q4
2015

3. Reaching
the
Limits
Growing
popula4ons
and
rising
consumer
demand
related
to
higher
standards
of
living
across
all
socie4es
are
increasing
consump4on
of
resources
and
we
are
in
danger
of
exceeding
the
Earth’s
natural
thresholds.

4. More
Demand:
Less
Efficient
Produc=on
The
world’s
output
of
iron
ore
has
roughly
tripled
since
2000
and
we
now
see
declining
grades
of
ore
which
require
greater
energy
input
per
unit
of
output.
Demand
is
increasing
but
produc4on
efficiency
in
some
areas
is
declining.

5. More,
Not
Less
Waste
While
many
aspire
to
a
zero
waste
system,
we
see
growing
volumes
of
waste
especially
in
ci4es,
par4cularly
food
waste
–
30%
of
which
is
now
thrown
away
every
day
in
Europe.

6. Decoupling
Many
are
ques4oning
when
the
perpetual
economic
growth
model
can
be
subs4tuted
-­‐
whether
we
can
achieve
‘prosperity
without
growth’
and
what
role
decoupling
of
these
two
can
play.

7. Digital
Transparency
Innova4on
will
drive
improvements
in
resource
produc4vity:
Digital
connec4vity
will
provide
greater
transparency
on
how
we
use
our
resources
and
the
environmental,
social
and
financial
impact
of
their
use.

8. Societal
Ac=on
We
may
see
a
significant
bo_om-­‐up
groundswell
of
opinion
in
society
outside
government
and
industry
that
creates
a
socio-­‐poli4cal
shi`
that
demands
ac4on
on
addressing
resource
demand.

9. Net
Posi=ve
Impact
More
fully
embracing
the
principles
of
cradle
to
cradle
and
the
circular
economy
can
help
us
go
beyond
being
carbon,
water
or
energy
neutral
to
achieving
net
posi4ve
impact.

10. Global
and
Regional
Agreements
While
bilateral
trading
rela4onships
are
more
probable,
the
opportunity
for
global
and
regional
agreements
has
to
be
pursued
in
order
to
show
intent
and
direc4on
of
travel.

11. Ac=ve
Divestment
A
poten4al
change
is
the
influence
of
the
divestment
movement
which
is
currently
focused
on
persuading
ins4tu4onal
investors
to
divest
from
fossil
fuels,
but
which
in
4me
may
extend
to
investments
in
other
resources.

12. ShiJing
The
Dial
As
our
individual
and
collec4ve
footprints
become
more
tangible
and
be_er
communicated,
bold
moves
to
shi`
the
dial
are
needed
across
the
board.
New
management
approaches
and
business
models
are
needed.

13. Whole-­‐Life
Design
There
is
widespread
applica4on
of
processes
focused
on
lifecycle
design
that
seek
to
maximise
the
use,
reuse
and
recycling
of
materials,
components
and
products
in
order
to
minimise
end-­‐of-­‐life
waste.

14. Poli=cal
S=mulus
Poli4cal
consensus
creates
the
condi4ons
for
a
societal
and
business
opera4ng
context
more
focused
on
resource
efficiency
-­‐
including
a
long-­‐term
focus,
fiscal
s4mulus,
skills
development
and
greater
cross-­‐border
collabora4on.

15. What’s
Mine
is
Yours
We
see
development
and
prolifera4on
of
an
economic
system
built
around
sharing
of
human,
intellectual
and
physical
resources
that
promotes
access
rather
than
ownership
and
that
is
fuelled
by
technology
and
connec4vity.

16. Emerging
Norms
Influen4al
developing
economies
drive
new
rules
and
prac4ces
where
individuals
and
organisa4ons
design
for
risk
and
vola4lity
-­‐
and
are
no
longer
limited
by
legacy
business
models
and
infrastructure.

17. Seeds
of
Change
More
frequent
physical
shock,
such
as
Beijing’s
smogageddon
and
the
more
severe
early
impacts
of
climate
change,
will
finally
drive
mass
change
in
global
social
adtudes
and
mass
adop4on
of
the
ideology
of
sustainability.

18. True
Cost
Products
and
Services
Rising
consumer
awareness
and
demands
for
transparency
mean
that
product
offers
reflect
true
costs
of
produc4on
and
resource
extrac4on.
‘Externali4es’
throughout
value
chains
become
‘internali4es’
-­‐
changing
the
way
we
think
about
pricing.

19. Predictable
Conflict
and
Unusual
Alliances
Conflicts
over
scarce
resources
are
not
new
but
will
become
more
frequent,
widespread
and
‘close
to
home’.
New
conflicts
will
lead
to
‘unusual
alliances’
between
divergent
groups
with
mutual
interests
in
specific
resources.

20. Weak
Governance,
Strong
Interests
Weak
leadership
and
weak
governance
over
the
best
use
of
resources
will
remain,
leaving
the
debate
to
vested
interests
and
grassroots
movements.
2025
will
be
a
cri4cal
moment
of
hindsight
on
decisions
being
made
today.

21. Resource
Migra=on
We
will
see
mass
migra4on
con4nue
due
to
localised
scarci4es
of
essen4al
resources
such
as
food
and
water,
but
also
in
line
with
the
shi`ing
geography
of
resource-­‐driven
work
opportuni4es
and
economics.

22. Resource
Awareness
Mass
awareness
of
the
need
to
manage
resources
sustainably
will
become
reality
but
will
arise
from
myriad
sources
(formal
educa4on,
local
campaigns,
disasters
etc.)
leading
to
global
recogni4on
but
fragmented
understanding.

23. Waste
Not
Want
Not
Waste
will
increasingly
be
seen
as
a
useful
resource.
Bio-­‐waste
being
used
to
generate
gas
and
materials
being
re-­‐cycled
and
re-­‐used,
may
be
precursors
to
the
idea
of
processed
waste
becoming
a
product
in
its
own
right.

24. Dematerialisa=on
of
Infrastructure
Investment
in
resource-­‐heavy
infrastructure
declines
as
big-­‐data
and
digital
networks
help
us
to
use
current
infrastructure
more
efficiently
(or
even
bypass
it
en4rely).

25. The
Bio-­‐sphere
The
bio-­‐sphere
will
come
to
be
seen
as
just
another
resource,
albeit
one
which
demands
a
‘give
and
take’
rela4onship
rather
than
simple
extrac4on
and
exploita4on.

26. Future
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