Germany proposes G20 Resource Efficiency Partnership

The German federal government proposes a partnership on resource efficiency for G20 member countries. “We need a strong partnership of all large economic powers so that we don’t keep exceeding our planet’s limits,” said federal environment minister Barbara Hendricks at the opening of G20 government talks on resource efficiency in Berlin. Under the partnership, members would be in constant dialogue to learn from one another and share best practices, she said. 
At the same event, the International Resources Panel (IRP) presented its report on the potential and economic implications of resource efficiency. It finds that smarter use of resources can add 2 trillion dollars annually to the global economy. Yet, “economic efficiency is not always equal to resource efficiency”, mostly due to labour costs, said IRP member Prof Paul Ekins at the presentation.

Find the government press release in German here and the IRP report in English here.