Responsible Resource Management in Micro and Macro Scale

Industries which are related to natural resources for consumption range from extraction of minerals, metals as well as other forms of aggregates. These include the following industries: forestry, fishing, quarrying, oil and gas well as other mining industries. Such natural resources account for a quarter of the global GDP and play a significant role in the livelihood of more than half of the global population (World Bank, 2018).

Thus, the importance of these industries from an economic standpoint would clearly lead to a rich academic literature which includes a wide range of disciplines. However, recent times has seen the emergence of a specific strand based on the sustainability of such industries with a focus on corporate social responsibility as well as sustainable development. This is given the rise of stakeholders’ viewpoint in what is traditionally considered an industry which is dominated by multinationals focused on profit and wealth maximisation. Areas of interest for managing resources sustainably include: Sustainable resource management (see Bringezu & Bleischwitz, 2017); policies concerning environmental issues surrounding management of natural resources (see Sterner and Coria, 2013); production and productivity as well as the natural resources curse (see Badeeb, Clark and Lean, 2017); application of circular economy concepts in management of resources (see Winans, Kendall and Deng, 2017); smart solutions to managing environmental issues relating to extraction of resources (see Lomborg, 2010) as well as  challenges in managing wealth from resources which leads to poor economic performance (see Venables, 2016).

Therefore, the current special issue invites authors to submit papers from the following areas:

• Circular economy and its influences on economic growth
• Command and control regulations, enforcement of legislation and corruption
• Development of social equity in communities as well as promotion of human rights, especially in emerging economies.
• Environmental education and preservation of resources
• Impact of CSR principles, standards and tools
• Industry 4.0 and the responsible resource usage
• Industrial development and environmental protection
• Issues surrounding governance and sustainable resources management
• Rent of resources to support sustainable economic development
• Responsible management of resource wealth in ensuring inclusive growth

References

Badeeb, R. A., Lean, H. H., & Clark, J. (2017). The evolution of the natural resource curse thesis: A critical literature survey. Resources Policy, 51, 123-134.

Bringezu, S., & Bleischwitz, R. (2017). Sustainable resource management: global trends, visions and policies. Routledge.

Lomborg, B. (Ed.). (2010). Smart solutions to climate change: Comparing costs and benefits. Cambridge University Press.

Sterner, T., & Coria, J. (2013). Policy instruments for environmental and natural resource management. Routledge.

The World Bank (2018), Extractive Industries Overview, Washington, DC available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/overview (accessed 24 February 2020).

Venables, A. J. (2016). Using natural resources for development: why has it proven so difficult?, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(1), 161-84.

Winans, K., Kendall, A., & Deng, H. (2017). The history and current applications of the circular economy concept. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 68, 825-833.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kot
Prof. Ing. Dr. Robert Stefko
Guest Editors

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