Effective environment policy is an economic task

Controlling valuable natural resources is an economic task as much as an environmental one, according to the European Union's environment chief Janez Potočnik.

In a recent speech reported in the Guardian, Potočnik highlighted that overusing and wasting valuable natural resources could lead to a spike in their cost, which could in turn prompt further economic woes through increased costs of living and manufacturing prices.

European regulations were said to be under consideration to combat the rising price of some resources that is being caused by a lack of efficiency and wastefulness. The stark warning highlighted the increasing scarcity and rising price of some key resources, including energy and water, but also food and raw materials from metals, ores and minerals.

Developing countries, such as India and China, have experienced rapid growth in recent years, and as a consequence have started to take a greater share of the world's resources, with yet more adverse effects on prices in Europe.

Janez Potočnik commented: "It's very difficult to imagine [lifting Europe out of recession] without growth, and very difficult to imagine growth without competitiveness, and very difficult to be competitive without resource efficiency."

Posted by Claire Manning