Resource productivity

Resource productivity is the quantity of good or service (outcome) that is obtained through the expenditure of unit resource.^[1]^[2]^[3] This can be expressed in monetary terms as the monetary yield per unit resource.

For example, when applied to crop irrigation it is the yield of crop obtained through use of a given volume of irrigation water, the “crop per drop”, which could also be expressed as monetary return from product per use of unit irrigation water.

Resource productivity and resource intensity are key concepts used in sustainability measurement as they attempt to decouple the direct connection between resource use and environmental degradation. Their strength is that they can be used as a metric for both economic and environmental cost. Although these concepts are two sides of the same coin, in practice they involve very different approaches and can be viewed as reflecting, on the one hand, the efficiency of resource production as outcome per unit of resource use (resource productivity) and, on the other hand, the efficiency of resource consumption as resource use per unit outcome (resource intensity). The sustainability objective is to maximize resource productivity while minimizing resource intensity. Scientific and political debates on resource productivity are regularly held at, among others, the World Resources Forum conferences.

References

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^ Karlson Hargroves and Michael H. Smith, 2005: The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century. Earthscan, London. ISBN 9781844073405
^ Hawken, P., Lovins, A. and Lovins, L.H. 1999. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Earthscan, London.
^ Weizsäcker, E, and Jesinghaus, J. 1992. Ecological Tax Reform, Chapter 2: Increasing the Productivity of Natural Resources and Energy. Zed, London. [1]

v t e Sustainability
Outline Index
Principles	Anthropocene Environmentalism Global governance Human impact on the environment Planetary boundaries Development
Consumption	Anthropization Anti-consumerism Circular economy Durable good Earth Overshoot Day Ecological footprint Ethical Green consumption Micro-sustainability Over-consumption Product stewardship Simple living Social return on investment Steady-state economy Sustainability Advertising Brand Marketing myopia Sustainable Consumer behaviour Market Systemic change resistance Tragedy of the commons
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Accountability	Corporate environmental responsibility Corporate social responsibility Environmental accounting Environmental full-cost accounting Environmental planning Sustainability Accounting Measurement Metrics and indices Reporting Standards and certification Sustainable yield
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Agreements and conferences	UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm 1972) Brundtlandt Commission Report (1983) Our Common Future (1987) Earth Summit (1992) Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) Agenda 21 (1992) Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) Lisbon Principles (1997) Earth Charter (2000) UN Millennium Declaration (2000) Earth Summit 2002 (Rio+10, Johannesburg) UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20, 2012) Sustainable Development Goals (2015)
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