7.1 Natural resources — uses and managementIB Environmental Systems and Societies HL: Revision notes

Natural resources are the raw materials and sources of energy used and consumed by society. Natural capital is the stock of natural resources available on Earth. It provides natural income: the goods and services it yields, e.g. a sustainable fish harvest from a reef.

The terms 'natural capital' and 'natural income' imply a particular perspective on nature: that nature is a resource to be valued and used, which is a more anthropocentric and economic view than an ecocentric one.

Ecosystems provide life-supporting ecosystem services, e.g. reefs protecting coasts, forests regulating water and storing carbon, and pollination.

All resources are finite. Renewable resources can be replaced naturally at least as fast as they are used (e.g. fish, timber if managed), while non-renewable resources are used faster than they form (e.g. fossil fuels, minerals).

Natural capital has aesthetic, cultural, economic, environmental, health, intrinsic, social, spiritual and technological value. The value is influenced by these factors and is dynamic: it changes over time with conditions, knowledge, technology and attitudes.

Example: the Great Barrier Reef has economic value (tourism, fishing), environmental value (biodiversity, coastal protection) and cultural and spiritual value for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Mass bleaching events since 2016 have reduced its condition and value.

The use of natural capital needs to be managed to ensure sustainability, so that natural income can continue. Resource security is the ability of societies to ensure the long-term availability of sufficient natural resources to meet demand.

The choices a society makes about resources are affected by many factors (wealth, technology, culture, politics, availability) and reflect diverse perspectives: technocentric (technology solves problems), anthropocentric (human wellbeing first) and ecocentric (nature has intrinsic value).

(HL) A range of management and intervention strategies can directly influence society's use of natural capital, e.g. laws and quotas, taxes and charges, subsidies, education, and awareness campaigns.

(HL) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for action by all countries in global partnership for natural resource use and management, for example SDG 6 (clean water), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land).

(HL) Sustainable resource management in development projects is addressed in an environmental impact assessment (EIA), which predicts a project's environmental and social impacts before it proceeds.

• Countries and regions have different guidance on the use of EIAs.
• Making EIAs public lets local citizens take a role as stakeholders in decision-making.
• Limits: weak consultation, or findings overridden by short-term economic interests.

Example: Belo Monte dam, Brazil, where critics argued public consultation was inadequate.

(HL) A resource may be renewable, but the means of extracting, harvesting, transporting and processing it may be unsustainable (e.g. palm oil grown on cleared forest). Economic interests often favour short-term responses which undermine long-term sustainability.

(HL) Resource insecurity hinders socioeconomic development and can lead to environmental degradation and geopolitical tensions and conflicts (e.g. the Nile and the GERD dam).

(HL) Security can come from reducing demand, increasing supply or changing technologies. Economic globalisation can increase supply and make countries interdependent, but it may reduce national resource security.