GLOBAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: A DREAM OR A VITAL NEED?

摘要

Sustainable development is a term which seems to have a global agreement on its validity. However, global trend is to consume as much as possible with minimum cost, but the actual applicable cost of long term management is not considered. Global economy seems to be armed with advanced technologies to bring the inevitable end as soon as possible. Mechanization and automation are increasingly used at individual sites. These applications provide technical solutions for local activities, but seem to be far from providing a solution to the global planning and control problem. Advances in mining technologies bring a fast change of the environment. The need for monitoring and controlling the consequences is therefore vital. Micro and macro level activities must be planned together in sectors having global consequences. Mineral and energy industries have global and long term effects due to their limited resources, environmental and social effects. Cumulative availability curve detailed for assessing the threat of mineral depletion by Beckdorf and Tilton can be useful for mineral resource aspects. A model defining the key actors and performance indicators considering the current status of global activities has been drafted. The model can be used to design mechanisms for monitoring the level of the problems when agreement of stakeholders is achieved on basic global parameters to be controlled, however planning and assigning actions to be applied seem to be difficult due to lack of consensus between interested parties.