The future we envision—fair, prosperous and sustainable—cannot be achieved without fundamentally rethinking how we manage natural resources. From the minerals fueling our renewable energy technologies to the materials shaping our built environment, resources lie at the heart of major global challenges and transitions. Yet, the current approach to resource governance is, in most cases, fragmented, reactive, and ultimately unsustainable. With mounting environmental pressures, unequal access to resources, and increasing demand for raw materials, the big question is how we design and implement strategies for systemic change.
Why We Need New Resource Strategies
In 2023 alone, humanity extracted over 100 billion tons of materials – a staggering 70% increase from just two decades ago. Without significant changes, material extraction is expected to increase by almost 60% from 2020 levels by 2060. Despite growing awareness of resource constraints and impacts, our dependence on a linear “take-make-waste” model continues to deplete ecosystems, exacerbate inequalities, and fuel climate change. Addressing these interconnected challenges demands more than incremental change and necessitates a systemic paradigm shift.
Coordinated, cross-sector and multi-stakeholder strategies are essential for achieving this shift. Siloed approaches—where resource management is treated as the responsibility of individual industries, governments or sectors—fail to account for the systemic nature of resource use and its ripple effects. For example, while policies targeting energy efficiency in buildings are critical, they often overlook the embedded carbon and resource intensity of construction materials. Similarly, scaling electric vehicles without addressing the social and environmental costs of mining lithium and other minerals risks perpetuating injustices on the global stage.
Why Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration is Essential
No single sector or stakeholder can address these challenges alone. Governments, industry, financial institutions, researchers, and civil society each bring unique perspectives, expertise, and leverage to the table. Effective collaboration can create a shared vision, align priorities, and bridge gaps in knowledge, resources, and capacity. Multi-stakeholder approaches ensure that strategies are not only technically feasible but also socially inclusive and economically viable.
Coordination, however, involves more than just aligning agendas and encompasses integrating policies across sectors, engaging all stakeholders, scaling collaborative innovation and developing global standards and indicators. Resource management must transcend sectoral boundaries and take advantage of the linkages across the different sectors throughout resources’ value chains. Multilateral governance structures must prioritize equity, as a fair resource transition requires the inclusion of voices from groups who are disproportionately affected by resource extraction and waste.
An unprecedented opportunity for progress
Failure to adopt new resource strategies risks deepening existing crises. The unchecked exploitation of natural resources has already contributed to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, and recurring geopolitical tensions. Meanwhile, communities in resource-rich countries continue to bear the burden of environmental degradation and social upheaval.
On the other hand, coordinated resource strategies offer an unprecedented opportunity to foster global resilience and equity, enabling us to reduce resource demand, decouple growth from environmental harm, and ensure fairness.
Shape the Future of Resources at WRF25
The World Resources Forum 2025 (WRF25) conference will bring together decision-makers, experts and innovators to co-develop actionable solutions for sustainable resource strategies. By focusing on three key resource hotspots—the extractive sector, built environment, and consumer and industrial goods—WRF25 aims to spark cross-sector collaboration and drive systemic change.
The path to a better future starts with bold questions, and collaborative solutions.
Will you be part of the solution?
Join us on 2-3 September in Geneva and 4-5 September online!