The World Resources Forum (WRF) is an independent, international platform for debate on global resource consumption issues, advocating innovation for resource productivity. The WRF is building a bridge from the natural sciences and engineering to economics; it aims to equip political decision makers to identify realistic policy options for sustainable growth.

The Goal

The WRF aims to transcend the current political focus on climate change and to bring the broader issues of global resource consumption and resource productivity back onto the agenda. It is assembling an interdisciplinary network of scientists, political and business leaders who recognize the necessity of establishing economic principles that respect the physical properties of resources and the laws of nature. The forum aims at a consensus on the next practical steps to be taken towards a sustainable economy.

The World Resources Forum will convene for its first plenary in Davos/Switzerland on September 16, 2009.

The Initiative

The WRF is a joint initiative of EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research - a research institution in the ETH domain), SATW (Swiss Academy for Engineering Sciences), and the Factor 10 Institute in cooperation with the UNEP Resource Panel and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment.

The WRF 2009 is held in conjunction with the R’09 World Congress.