Metal, energy prices soaring as resources decline, warns UNEP

WASHINGTON - Rapidly rising prices—metal up by 176%, rubber by 350%, and energy by 260% since 2000—signal a potentially crippling trend of increasing costs as current consumption patterns rapidly deplete the world’s non-renewable resources, according to a report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Decoupling 2: Technologies, Opportunities and Policy Options, produced by the UNEP-hosted International Resource Panel, says the numbers demonstrate that the negative effects of unsustainable use of natural resources are already being felt, further backing the argument with a rise in volatility of food prices: 22.4% from 2000 to 2012 compared to 7.7% from 1990 to 1999.
The report says that harnessing existing technologies and appropriate policies to increase resource productivity could save up to US$3.7 trillion globally each year and insulate future economic growth from the harmful effects of resource scarcity, price volatility and environmental impacts. www.unep.org (ATI).