This e-learning course on Resource Efficiency was developed to raise awareness of Resource Efficiency among policymakers and sustainable development practitioners in the Asia-Pacific region.
Resource Efficiency entails the ability to create more goods, economic services, wealth, and ultimately human well-being with less input of natural resources. But why is Resource Efficiency important for Asia and the Pacific?
Did you know that, on average, the Asia-Pacific requires almost double the material resources per US$ of economic output than the world average, making it one of the most resource inefficient regions of the world? This comes at great environmental and economic costs as material, energy, water, and land resources become ever scarcer and whose exploitation and misuse contributes greatly to climate change, land degradation, and other environmental catastrophes.
However, this does not need to be the case. By understanding the principles of Resource Efficiency and how to measure and monitor it, there are a host of economic, social and environmental gains to be had by enacting Resource Efficient policy pathways (you can simulate gains from Resource Efficiency improvements in your country by using the UN ESCAP Resource Efficiency Simulation Tool (REST).
Structured into two Modules, this course will build your understanding of:
- What Resource Efficiency is about and how to measure it ?
- Why Resource Efficiency is important for sustainable development ?
- What polices can enable a transition to a Resource Efficient Asia-Pacific, with practical examples from the region ?
Finally, the course concludes with a short quiz and those successfully completing the quiz will be awarded a certificate free of cost. The course itself is free, delivered in English, and does not require a considerable investment of time or a strong background in the subject as the material is overview and conveniently concise and condensed.