The paper focuses on the issue of natural resource security, which is currently receiving policy attention worldwide due to the increasing dependence of nations on international trade in acquiring raw materials. The study presents a time series analysis of the material footprint (MF) of 186 countries and identifies the material flows associated with global production and consumption networks with unprecedented specificity.

The paper highlights that metrics of resource productivity currently used by governments, based on the amount of materials directly used by an economy, mislead assessments of national resource productivity and the supply security of natural resources. The researchers assert that domestic material consumption (DMC), which is a widely used sustainability indicator by governments and authorities, has limitations in that it does not include the upstream raw materials associated with imports and exports originating from outside the focal economy.

The authors argue that to gauge the sustainability of resource use and to support decision-making, metrics of economy-wide material flow accounting are needed, in addition to DMC, such as total resource (or material) productivity, which includes hidden flows. They also discuss the consumption-based material flow indicator, equivalent to the carbon footprint, which has only recently been investigated closely using the notion of raw material consumption.

Achievements in decoupling in advanced economies are smaller than reported or even non-existent. Metrics on resource productivity chosen by governments suggest that some developed countries have increased their consumption of natural resources at a slower rate than economic growth (relative decoupling) or have even managed to use fewer resources over time (absolute decoupling). Using MF, a consumption-based indicator of resource use, the research reveals that the contrary is true. The paper notes that as wealth grows, countries tend to reduce their domestic portion of materials extraction through international trade, but their use of non-domestic resources is, on average, about threefold larger than the physical quantity of traded goods.

The authors explored the ecological footprint of the world economy and calculate the full material requirements of all countries, covering a period of two decades. The material footprint provides a consumption perspective of resource use and new insights into the actual resource productivity of nations.

Significance

The paper addresses the fundamental issue of how many and what natural resources are required to sustain modern economies, which has been far from satisfactorily answered in current scholarly literature. The Material Footprint of Nations’ study is innovative in providing a comprehensive and highly resolved economic input-output framework of the world economy, together with a detailed database of global material flows, to calculate the full material requirements of all countries.

Conclusion

The paper emphasises that while developed countries have increased resource use at a slower rate than economic growth, the achievements in decoupling are smaller than reported and sometimes non-existent, which could mislead assessments of national resource productivity and security. To gauge the sustainability of resource use and to support decision making, the authors propose metrics of economy-wide material flow accounting, in addition to DMC, which includes international material flow. The material footprint calculation provides a consumption perspective of resource use, new insights into national and international resource productivity and requirements, and provides a valuable source of information for policymakers and finance professionals.