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03/13/2019 | Campus-Meldung

UN report with Kassel participation on sustainability

The rapid increase in material extraction is the main culprit behind climate change and biodiversity loss, according to a report released today (March 13) at the UN Conference on the Environment in Nairobi, with Prof. Dr. Stefan Bringezu of the University of Kassel as one of the lead authors. The challenge will become even more acute if resource use does not change quickly and systematically, he said.

Resource use also puts pressure on natural water budgets.

In addition to Bringezu, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Schaldach and Prof. Dr. Martina Flörke also contributed to the report. All three work at the Center for Environmental Systems Research CESR at the University of Kassel, Germany, and their teams contributed to the analysis of global land and water use.

"The report shows that, on the one hand, current trends in resource use are associated with growing environmental and climate pressures, but on the other hand, it is possible to change course to make further development manageable within planetary boundaries," Bringezu explains. "Ninety percent of biodiversity loss and water stress is associated with the extraction and processing of raw materials, especially in agriculture. Nearly half of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the extraction and processing of mineral and biomass-based feedstocks."

The report continues a series begun in 2017 with a report "Assessing Global Resource Use," lead coordinated by Prof. Bringezu.

The UN's press release in English can be found here: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-calls-urgent-rethink-resource-use-skyrockets