UN urges to save sand - its reserves in the world are not unlimited

Miscellaneous / by admin / April 28, 2022

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Without sand, humanity will not be able to develop, and nature will change beyond recognition.

In the new reportSand and Sustainability: 10 Strategic Recommendations to Avert a Crisis The United Nations Environment Agency says that people's attitudes to sand need to change urgently. Otherwise, it can turn into big problems for all mankind.

Sand is the world's most used resource after water, playing a vital role in both construction and the environment. However, unlike water, sand is not considered a strategic resource.

Our sand resources are not unlimited and we must use them wisely. To achieve sustainable development, we need to radically change the way we produce, create and consume products, infrastructure and services.

Pascal Peduzzi

Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

Sand is a key component of concrete, asphalt and glass. According to the report, about 50 billion tons of sand and gravel are used annually, enough to build a wall 27 meters wide and 27 meters high around planet Earth.

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This heavy use greatly exceeds the rate of its natural replenishment in some regions, meaning that sand reserves may soon be depleted.

As more population growth and further urbanization are expected in the next few decades, these problems are likely to become even more serious.

Sand is becoming increasingly important in building the very foundation of our society: our homes, schools for our children, dams and photovoltaic panels to produce renewable energy. Sand is also essential for the construction of roads, bridges, hospitals and infrastructure, being the key to human development. Thus, sand is the unrecognized hero of our development.

Sheila Aggarwal Khan

Director of Economics, UNEP

We are now in a position where the needs and expectations of our society cannot be met without better sand management.

A significant increase in sand production will not be a solution to the problem. After all, this leads to erosion, salinization of aquifers and loss of protection from storm surges. And this, in turn, creates difficulties for many coastal or marine ecosystems.

In order to avoid a crisis, it is proposed to introduce a number of measures:

Sand must be recognized as a strategic resource, both as a material for construction and in connection with its many functions in the natural world.
The use of sand needs to be strictly regulated by new institutional and legal structures.
It is recommended to ban the extraction of sand from the beaches.
People need to be encouraged to use alternatives to sand - crushed stone, recycled building materials and "ore sand" (sand from tailings).