Challenges

The paradox of using natural resources capital, such as minerals, energy and water, is that it provides social benefits while simultaneously jeopardizing social well-being. These resources are essential for sustainable development, yet the production and use of natural resources have several negative social and environmental impacts. Countries will not be able to achieve a genuinely sustainable future unless this paradox is addressed. The paradox of unsustainable resource production and consumption patterns derives from the fundamental flaw in seeing the natural resource base in a fragmented manner and trying to develop them in silos. The world had relied on a seemingly concrete, yet highly flawed, “commodity model” to develop and use its natural resources. This spurious commodity model has led to the inefficient use of natural resources, immense negative environmental impacts, including of carbon footprints, and waste problems. The overall effects have meant declining public acceptance of such activities.

Toward a Solution

Sustainable management of natural resources is a vital requirement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, without which none of the 17 goals can be achieved in actuality. SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) are two interconnected goals – both at the foundation of sustainable development. SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) are also relevant here for these SDGs concern the natural wealth of nations and are vital to realizing all other goals.

The development and use of natural resources are often a paradox. A resilient and sustainable supply of natural resources, including critical raw minerals, is essential for sustainable energy, mobility and digital transitions. Yet the supply and use of natural resources are accompanied by widespread social, environmental and economic impacts. They are often seen as a “resource curse”. If the world is to deliver on climate change and attain the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development objectives, countries need to drastically change their approach to production and to the use of natural resources.

To deliver on quality-of-life aspirations, countries require integrated solutions that deliver on the environmental, economic and social dimensions. Governments, industry, researchers and civil society stakeholders from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan and Ukraine cooperated and shared the best integrated and sustainable management practices of energy, raw material sand water resources to ensure positive social and environmental outcomes. The use of global standards accelerated the achievement of SDG 7 and SDG 12.

The project, entitled “Sustainable Resource Management”, implemented by UNECE promoted the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) and the United Nations Resource Management System (UNRMS) as the framework for sustainable management of natural resources, such as minerals, anthropogenic resources, renewable energy and groundwater. The standards also apply to future resources such as hydrogen and ammonia. UNFC and UNRMS made it possible for beneficiary countries to manage their overall resource base as an integrated whole thereby ensuring good environmental-social-economic outcomes. This new paradigm of optimizing resource efficiency and progressing toward a circular economy has provided a balanced development of natural resources and the realization of the codependent SDGs 6,7,12 and 13.

The project was aimed to help Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan and Ukraine, which are all countries with similar economies in transition, to identify best practices, measures and procedures relevant to sustainable energy transition with a particular focus on the cross-cutting nature of the natural resource. The beneficiary countries inherited a common approach from the former Soviet Union and, therefore, could collaborate well in exchanging concepts and best practices in reforming natural resource management.

However, they did not have the necessary policy and regulatory infrastructure to enable progress on these fronts. Therefore, the project assisted the development of national guidelines for integrated energy and water resources management in beneficiary countries and supported the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 7.

To achieve the objectives, the beneficiary countries collaborated and shared their experiences in applying the UNECE’s new “nexus” approach to identify and promote integrated planning, management and governance of natural resources across sectors and spatial scales. The nexus approach used a generic and scale-independent method for identifying a nexus pathway, primarily based on experiences with water and energy-related nexus activities carried out in the region. UNECE developed the nexus approach by integrating existing tools on natural resource management, especially in food, forests, water, energy and raw materials.

UNFC, the framework for socially and environmentally referenced information on resources, and UNRMS, the system to assure continuous alignment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, were developed by UNECE for integrated management of resources. The standards were combined with good practices guidance developed by UNECE in other areas such as food, water and forests to build a robust approach for a non-siloed and comprehensive approach to sustainable resource management. The approach was used by the Ministries of Agriculture, Water Management, Environment, Energy and Mining to coordinate joint action. Kazakhstan created an integrated Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources, combining smaller ministries working hitherto in isolation.

A prime example of the nexus pathway approach, through a process anchored in a multi-stakeholder dialogue, allows proposing actions and measures based on identified nexus challenges and intersectoral linkages and evaluating how they have been addressed. South-South collaboration is essential to the nexus approach of integrated resource management. For example, water resources are shared among Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Transboundary collaboration is necessary for the judicious use of precious water. Value addition could be better leveraged for other resources if there was strong South-South collaboration.

All the six beneficiary countries contributed to improved sustainable and integrated natural resource management in the project. The Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources, Kazakhstan, harmonized the national petroleum classification to UNFC under step 74 of the National Transition Plan. The Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Safety, Kyrgyzstan, considered the accelerated implementation of UNFC and UNRMS principles as a priority for the country. Tajikistan expects to align its policies with Commonwealth of Independent States regional collaboration.

Since 1997, Ukraine has mandated the use of UNFC as the foundation of its national resource management. With this collaboration, Ukraine has aligned itself with the latest version of UNFC, making it up to date with international standards and comparable globally. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are revising their resource policies and strategies, and UNFC and UNRMS are expected to be included.

The project supported the development of an innovative natural resource nexus approach.1 The Natural Resource Nexus approach considers the complex interactions and feedback loops between human and natural systems affecting the natural resource base, such as energy, food, land, materials and water. Transport and trade are also considered as two other sectors relevant to the nexuses. A unique nexus approach that integrates UNECE tools and instruments, such as UNFC and UNRMS, ensures integrated and sustainable approaches to natural resource management that can be applied at all scales and transcend traditional sectoral “silos”.

Beneficiary countries are planning to establish International Centres of Excellence in Sustainable Resource Management to support the continued, effective implementation and application of UNFC, UNRMS and the nexus approach. Policy and regulatory interventions are being recommended to further strengthen the methods implemented through the project.

The best practices and experiences from this activity fed into the development of UNFC and UNRMS. Therefore, all the procedures are captured in a concrete standard like UNFC, recommended by ECOSOC for worldwide use, and the new standard of UNRMS, hence replicable to any country or region. The outcomes also informed the United Nations Secretary General’s Policy Brief on “Transforming the Extractive Industries for Sustainable Development” and the terms of reference of the United Nations Working Group on Transforming the Extractive Industries for Sustainable Development.

The collaborative work on this challenging topic has led to the formulation of a few lessons learned, such as the following ones:

1. The need to integrate circular economy principles at all stages
2. Ensuring the alignment of all public and private finances to support a just transition
3. Mitigating environmental impacts through the availability of green technologies