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Green economies around the world? by SERI

This new report by SERI reveals, for the first time, data on resource use and resource efficiency for all countries of the world over three decades, from 1980 – 2008. The data covers the global, continental and country level, featuring illustrative case studies.

The report addresses three main issues:
1. Patterns of material extraction, trade, consumption and resource productivity in different world regions and countries;
2. Connections between material use and indicators of economic and social development;
3. Links between material use and selected major environmental problems, such as carbon emissions, land use change and water use.

The report evaluates the performances of different countries, highlighting the critical issues of current trends in resource use. It thus provides innovative input for the current discussion on green economies and poverty reduction in the context of the upcoming Rio+20 Earth Summit in 2012 and beyond.

Download the report here.