Government review to examine threat of world resources short
Posted: 31 May 2010, 18:51
Ministers have ordered a review of looming global shortages of resources, from fish and timber to water and precious metals, amid mounting concern that the problem could hit every sector of the economy.
The study has been commissioned following sharp rises in many commodity prices on the world markets and recent riots in some countries over food shortages.
There is also evidence that some nations are stockpiling important materials, buying up key producers and land and restricting exports in an attempt to protect their own businesses from increasingly fierce global competition.
Several research projects have also warned of a pending crisis in natural resources, such as water and wildlife, which have suffered dramatic losses due to over-use, pollution, habitat loss, and, increasingly, changes caused by global warming.
Professor Bob Watson, the chief scientist for the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, the leading department in the initiative, said every sector of the British economy was directly or indirectly vulnerable to future shortages.
These could be caused either by resources running out or becoming harder to access because of geopolitical factors from war to tighter environmental regulation on resources such as timber and palm oil – the latter being found in an estimated one in 10 products, from chocolate to cosmetics, sold in Britain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010 ... eat-review
One area of particular concern is "rare earth elements", important for defence and many green technologies from low-energy lightbulbs to wind turbines, as well as industries as varied as electronics and lasers, film and lighting, aircraft engines, nuclear reactors, and pain-relieving drugs, Phil Dolley, AEA's resource efficiency director, said.
For years, experts have warned of the threat of peak oil to both the world economy and international political stability if countries go to war to secure access to fossil fuels.
However, there is now also increasing concern about a range of other resources, including a report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in December that the European commission has commissioned a review of 49 strategically important resources it believes are at risk.
Among the countries known to be stockpiling resources, Japan has said it is storing supplies of seven rare metals it believes are "essential to modern life and industry".
Writing in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, James Bacchus, the chairman of the WTO's appelate body, said China was also "hoarding rare elements and other raw materials", but so were many other countries and there had also been a "sharp increase" in actions to protect national resources worldwide.
The study has been commissioned following sharp rises in many commodity prices on the world markets and recent riots in some countries over food shortages.
There is also evidence that some nations are stockpiling important materials, buying up key producers and land and restricting exports in an attempt to protect their own businesses from increasingly fierce global competition.
Several research projects have also warned of a pending crisis in natural resources, such as water and wildlife, which have suffered dramatic losses due to over-use, pollution, habitat loss, and, increasingly, changes caused by global warming.
Professor Bob Watson, the chief scientist for the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, the leading department in the initiative, said every sector of the British economy was directly or indirectly vulnerable to future shortages.
These could be caused either by resources running out or becoming harder to access because of geopolitical factors from war to tighter environmental regulation on resources such as timber and palm oil – the latter being found in an estimated one in 10 products, from chocolate to cosmetics, sold in Britain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010 ... eat-review
One area of particular concern is "rare earth elements", important for defence and many green technologies from low-energy lightbulbs to wind turbines, as well as industries as varied as electronics and lasers, film and lighting, aircraft engines, nuclear reactors, and pain-relieving drugs, Phil Dolley, AEA's resource efficiency director, said.
For years, experts have warned of the threat of peak oil to both the world economy and international political stability if countries go to war to secure access to fossil fuels.
However, there is now also increasing concern about a range of other resources, including a report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in December that the European commission has commissioned a review of 49 strategically important resources it believes are at risk.
Among the countries known to be stockpiling resources, Japan has said it is storing supplies of seven rare metals it believes are "essential to modern life and industry".
Writing in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, James Bacchus, the chairman of the WTO's appelate body, said China was also "hoarding rare elements and other raw materials", but so were many other countries and there had also been a "sharp increase" in actions to protect national resources worldwide.
