Improving knowledge about the environmental impact of economic activity is the main focus of the Commission's new 'Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable use of Natural Resources', presented on 21 December.
The strategy proposes to create a data centre on natural resource use run by the Commission in Brussels and co-ordinated by the EU statistical office Eurostat. It will gather data on natural resource use during each stage of a product's life-cycle - from commodity extraction or harvesting to processing, transport, dumping, recycling or re-use.
Once in place, the data centre will serve as a decision-making tool to support the overall strategy. Its aim is to uncouple the relationship between growing economic activity and the strain it places upon natural resources including land, forests, water, and fish stocks. The strategy will also apply to raw materials and fossil fuels used by industry. But the Commission underlines that the strategy "does not seek to restrict the use of materials or energy as such". It only seeks to "challenge business to further develop its leadership in the eco-efficient use of natural resources".
The proposal is now being forwarded for approval by the EU Council of ministers and Parliament. The Commission wants it to become operational "within 12 months of the strategy's adoption".
