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Sustainability: Resource Use

Natural resources are vital to our existence. Our health and well-being are inextricably linked to the quality of our air, water, soils and biological resources. Our landscapes, seascapes and wildlife are inseparable from our culture and inspire art and literature. Our economy and key industrial sectors are directly and indirectly reliant on functioning ecosystems. Many people also believe that natural resources have their own intrinsic value, that is, they are important for their own sake regardless of their functional value.

Our natural environment is vital to our health, economy and well-being. It provides:

• Clean air, water and food for our basic survival
• The resources (e.g. food, raw materials) we need for a strong economy
• A place for recreation, exercise and interaction with nature

The sustainable use of natural resources also plays a fundamental role in alleviating poverty in developing countries.

Climate Change is likely to be the biggest long-term pressure on the natural environment. Significant Climate Change impacts on Biodiversity have already been identified. The way in which we manage our natural environment at home is linked to reducing future emissions of green house gases, for example by reducing erosion of peat land which threatens considerable release of stored carbon, and adapting to inevitable Climate Change for example by allowing species to migrate and provide natural flood defences.

We need consistent policies to protect these natural resources on which we depend. The development of links between individual policies in the context of the wider environment is key to the approach to the protection of natural resources as a whole.