ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the realm of markets. It addresses the demand trends for natural resources, the emergence of new players and the resulting stresses in price volatility and for ecosystems. The global resource nexus is at the heart of these challenges and exacerbates vulnerabilities of companies, countries and the people. It advances a governance perspective that covers the levels of value chains, states and actors on the ground a polycentric and multilevel governance perspective comprising business, stakeholders, governments, international organizations and the respective institutions. Resource efficiency is elaborated as a key pillar for response strategies, but it needs to be embedded in proactive international coalition building efforts, with some institutionalized power to coerce action. The chapter concludes that attempts to manage the functional, political and environmental challenges can be supported by tools such as material flow analysis, by initiatives to promote transparency in extractive industries and by attempts to increase the resource efficiency along value chains and for entire economies.
