UN Framework Classification – a tool for Sustainable Resource Management

With the global increase of raw material consumption there is a growing need for standardized decision support tools for sustainable resource management both at global and EU-levels. The United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) integrated into the UN Resource Management System (UNRMS) might be such a tool by handling the level of confidence (geological knowledge), feasibility of a project and economic and social-environmental considerations. UNFC provides a uniform approach to understanding and managing the full diversity of earth resources ranging from energy and non-energy minerals over renewables and anthropogenic resources to groundwater. It provides a set of rules for bridging between national/regional and internationally recognized systems (e.g. CRIRSCO family) and provides flexibility to and assess projects according to national/regional legislations. Many European countries have related publications, tests and developed guidance documents. EuroGeoSurveys (https://www.eurogeosurveys.org), as the community of European National Geological Surveys have supported projects for the development of a common language for raw materials and co-operatation with the Expert Group on Resource Management (EGRM) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE, https://www.unece.org). Applications have been proved in former EU-cofinanced projects. MINERALS4EU (http://www.minerals4eu.eu) and ORAMA (https://orama-h2020.eu) dealt with the mineral intelligence and raw materials data optimization for Europe. Through GeoERA (https://geoera.eu/) the MINTELL4EU (https://geoera.eu/projects/mintell4eu7) is developing number of test cases on the applicability the UNFC in practice. The FRAME (http://www.frame.lneg.pt) project provides UNFC case studies for strategic raw materials and MINEA (www.minea-network.eu) deals with secondary resources. This publication presents EuroGeoSurveys activites with UNFC and demonstrates practical case studies.