UN warns world resource extraction could surge 60% by 2060

Extraction and processing of the huge amount of resources accounts for over 60 percent of planet-warming emissions, the report said, as well as devastating ecosystems and harming human health.

Workers are working on a flood control and drainage project at a construction site in Yuexi County, Anqing, China, on March 1, 2024. Enormous expansion of infrastructure, energy demand and consumer consumption over the last half century, particularly in wealthier countries, has driven a tripling of the world's use of materials. (AFP)