Natural Resource Economics and Sustainable Development
Summary
Natural resource economics examines how societies allocate and manage finite natural assets—such as minerals, forests and water—over time to achieve both economic growth and long-term ecological balance. It integrates cost-benefit analysis, intertemporal optimisation and valuation of ecosystem services to inform policy decisions on extraction rates, conservation and technological innovation. Sustainable development provides the normative framework, emphasising that current resource use must not compromise the wellbeing of future generations. Key challenges include reconciling short-term economic incentives with long-run environmental thresholds, transforming natural capital into human and manufactured capital, and aligning trade, finance and regulatory regimes with conservation goals. Contemporary approaches stress the role of renewable energy transitions, inclusive wealth accounting and digital technologies to improve resource efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and foster equitable growth. Cross-sectoral linkages—between trade, finance, innovation and environmental governance—underpin strategies for mitigating the resource curse in developing economies and for ensuring that natural resource rents catalyse rather than hinder sustainable prosperity.
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Natural Resource Economics and Sustainable Development publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in natural resource economics and sustainable development across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Natural capital: The stock of natural resources and ecosystem services that yield flows of benefits to society.
Inclusive wealth indicator: A comprehensive measure of a nation’s wealth that aggregates natural, human and produced capital to assess sustainability.
Resource curse: The paradox whereby countries rich in natural resources often experience slower economic growth and weaker governance than resource-poor counterparts.
Natural resource rents: The economic return to resource owners in excess of extraction costs, representing the scarcity value of the resource.
Transboundary trade: The exchange of goods and services across national borders, which can influence the environmental and economic effects of resource use.
Digitalisation: The adoption of digital technologies—such as data analytics and automation—to improve resource management, monitoring and sustainability outcomes.
References
- Nexus between renewable energy, natural resources and carbon emissions under the shadow of transboundary trade relationship from South East Asian economies. Energy Strategy Reviews (2022).
- Does natural capital depletion hamper sustainable development? Panel data evidence. Resources Policy (2021).
- Examining the role of digitalization and technological innovation in promoting sustainable natural resource exploitation. Resources Policy (2024).
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