How we work
The Panel consists of eminent scientists, highly skilled in resource management issues. Their reports distil the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic findings around global resource use. They provide advice and connections between policymakers, industry and the community on ways to improve global and local resource management. The Panel includes scientists and governments from both developed and developing regions, civil society, industrial and international organizations.
Missions & principles
The Panel’s mission is to provide independent, coherent and authoritative scientific assessments of policy relevance on the sustainable use of natural resources and, in particular, their environmental impacts over the full life cycle; and contribute to a better understanding of how to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation.
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Co Chair
Janez Potočnik
Janez Potočnik is co-chair of the IRP. He has held many important positions and has extensive experience in the realm of environment, economics and European Affairs. In September 2013 he received the United Nation's Champions of the Earth Award.
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Elias T. Ayuk
Elias Ayuk is the Director of the UN University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa. He has published widely on the social, economic and policy dimensions of natural resource management, on poverty analysis and institutional capacity building.
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Antonio M.A. Pedro
Antonio M.A Pedro is a geologist expert on mineral extraction and sustainable development. He spearheaded the work of the International Study Group on Africa’s Mineral Regimes and the Africa Mining Vision, adopted by the African Union in 2009.
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Thomas Graedel
Thomas Graedel is Professor of Industrial Ecology at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He co-authored the textbook Industrial Ecology, and was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2002.
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Michael Obersteiner
Michael Obersteiner is Director of the Ecosystems Services and Management Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria. He has worked for national and international organizations, writing over 100 scientific papers.
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Anders Wijkman
Anders Wijkman is co-president of the Club of Rome, chairman of the Swedish Association of Recycling Industries, senior advisor to the Stockholm Environment Institute. He is co-author of Bankrupting Nature (2012).
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Marina Fischer-Kowalski
Marina Fisher-Kowalski is Professor and former Director of the Institute for Social Ecology in Vienna, vice-president of the European Society of Ecological Economics, and president and founder of the International Society for Industrial Ecology.
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Heinz Schandl
Heinz Schandl is senior principal scientist at Australia’s CSIRO, where his research includes measuring and modelling sustainability to explore the links between public policy and social theory and metabolism as a path to SCP and green economy.
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A. Erinç Yeldan
Erinç Yeldan is Acting Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Bilkent University. His recent work focuses on development macroeconomics and economics of climate change, with emphasis on the Turkish economy.
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Hezri Adnan
Hezri Adnan is Director of Technology, Environment, and Sustainability at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia. His research interests include natural resources governance, sustainable development strategy, and green economy.
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Ester van der Voet
Trained as a biologist, Ester van der Voet has vast experience as a lecturer, researcher and editor in the field of Industrial Ecology. Among other posts, she is senior researcher in many EU-projects and has contributed to multiple IRP reports.
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Maarten Hajer
Maarten Hajer is distinguished professor of Urban Futures at Utrecht University, and a former Director-General of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. He has published widely on environmental politics and urban planning.
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Jeffrey Herrick
Jeff Herrick works at the US Department of Agriculture and has adjunct appointments at New Mexico State University and the University of Colorado. He is expert in resistance and resilience in arid and semi-arid ecosystems and in land management.
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Patrice Christmann
Patrice Christmann is Deputy-Director of the Corporate Strategy Division of the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières. His expertise includes mineral raw materials economics, sustainable governance, and sustainable natural resource management.
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Ashok Khosla
Ashok Khosla has served on the boards of numerous global environmental organizations, including the Club of Rome, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the World Conservation Union. He is a former co-chair of the IRP.
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Mark Swilling
Mark Swilling is Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Development at Stellenbosch University. He has vast experience in policy analysis, has published widely, and has coordinated large projects. He holds the Aspen Institute Faculty Pioneer award.
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Nabil Z. Nasr
Nabil Nasr is Director of Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology. His fields of expertise are sustainable production, remanufacturing, cleaner production, and sustainable product development.
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Seiji Hashimoto
Seiji Hasjimoto’s research interests include assessment methodologies and system design for sustainable resource and waste management, from extraction of resources to disposal. He is a Professor at Ritsumeikan University, Japan.
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Edgar Hertwich
Edgar Hertwich lectures and researches life-cycle assessment, sustainable production and consumption, trade and environment, and risk analysis. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has led multiple IRP reports.
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Bruno M.C Oberle
Bruno Oberle is Professor of Green Economy and Resource Governance at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He was Secretary of State for Environment, helping to set up the Global Environmental Facility and the Green Climate Fund.
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Paul Ekins
Paul Ekins is Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Resources, and Director of Research at the School of Sustainable Resources and Energy at University College London. He has a PHD in economics.
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Anuradha Ramaswami
Anu Ramaswami is an expert on urban infrastructure whose work has formed the basis for sustainable cities in the US and internationally. Her research includes integrating science and technology with policy and planning for real-world implementation.
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Anthony Chiu
Anthony Chiu is an expert in sustainable development, specializing in industrial engineering, cleaner production, sustainable consumption, eco-industrial development, and emergency response systems in industry.
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Hans Bruyninckx
Hans Bruyninckx is the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency. He is expert in European and international environmental policy, the effects of globalization on the governance of environmental issues and sustainable development.
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Stefan Bringezu
Stefan Bringezu is Director at the Centre of Environmental Systems Research at Kassel University. He is pioneer of material flow analysis and a founding member of the International Society for Industrial Ecology.
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Gete Zeleke
Gete Zeleke is a global leader in natural resource management and rural development and adjunct professor at Addis Ababa University. He is expert in soil erosion modelling, hydrology, soil and water management, and land evaluation.