From the sidelines of the geopolitical agenda, issues like water scarcity, tropical deforestation, soil degradation and climate change are creeping up to impact the capacity of countries to generate electricity, grow sufficient food, protect their infrastructure, and rely on one another’s supplies across open borders. In the absence of trust, and a clear focus on the risks and opportunities to build resilience, the competition for scarcer resources will push governments, businesses and investors further into a scramble to gain access. This will continue to undermine the vision of multilateralism, cooperation and sustainability that is needed to deal with planetary limits. Born out of resource crises, however, is the hope that stronger and bolder political and economic commitments to sustainability will help drive the decisions that today seem utopian.
The security implications of limited resources will capture the attention of people in positions of power. Their response will require more openness to support new investment and policy ideas that will create a more resilient, sustainable and secure trajectory for economic growth and industrialization. The Earth Security Index 2014 provides a framework to support this transition. Through integrated information, an objective analysis of inter-connected risks, and forward-looking operational proposals, ESI involves all stakeholders to consider the risks, the new opportunities and the responsibilities that will create a secure future.
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The ESI’s work is based on its ability to draw inter-connections between resource areas, political and economic factors, and engage stakeholders and experts globally across sector divides.
ESI helps companies, investors, governments and civil society to develop the strategic understanding and responses that are needed to face the connected risks of a resource-constrained world.
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