Browse Research

This report presents global projections of materials use and their environmental consequences, providing a quantitative outlook to 2060 at the global, sectoral and regional levels for 61 different materials (biomass resources, fossil fuels, metals and non-metallic minerals). It explains the economic drivers determining the decoupling of economic growth and materials use, and assesses how the projected shifts in sectoral and regional economic activity influence the use of different materials. The projections include both primary and secondary materials, which provides a deeper understanding of what drives the synergies and trade-offs between extraction and recycling.The report projects a doubling of global primary materials use between today and 2060. Population and converging per capita income growth drive the growth in materials use. However, structural change, especially in non-OECD countries, and technology improvements partially dampen that growth. Metals and non-metallic minerals are projected to grow more rapidly than other types of materials.

This paper integrates into the IMF Fiscal Transparency Code (FTC) a new fourth pillar (Pillar IV) on natural resource revenue management. The newly completed FTC integrates transparency principles for natural resource revenue management in a unified four-pillar framework.

E-waste is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the world, and society only deals with 20% of e-waste appropriately, yet e-waste is worth at least $62.5 billion annually. This paper discusses the state of play regarding global e-waste handling and production, and the potential benefits of the proper treatment of e-waste, including resource recovery from urban mining, reverse logistics and advanced recycling and recapturing.

This scoping paper explores how inclusive and green growth can be supported in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS), and if there are certain approaches and instruments to support green growth, which are more or less adapted for such settings. It includes case studies on waste management in Sierra Leone, the the “Post Conflict Window” of the African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH /German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) & IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative: Regional Landscape Approach in Côte d’Ivoire.

This policy brief, Off-grid productivity: powering universal energy access, outlines how mainstreaming productive uses of energy (PUE) can drive economic development, boost demand for energy, and support governments' sustainable development plans based upon evidence and experiences from the Energy Change Lab, a programme led by IIED and Hivos that works closely with partners in Tanzania on productive uses of energy (PUE) for community entrepreneurs.