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Entitled Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development, the report outlines how humans are increasingly using ‘dead’ sand (turned into other materials such as concrete and glass) for infrastructure in direct competition with ‘alive’ sand (sand in rivers and coasts) for natural services. Despite nature taking hundreds of thousands of years to generate sand through slow geological erosion processes, we are using sand at a rate of 50 billion tonnes per year, and its use for buildings alone is projected to rise by up to 45 per cent by 2060. 

With input from 27 experts worldwide, the report explains a fundamental tension: once extracted and transformed into concrete, asphalt and glass, sand is effectively lost from natural systems (‘dead’ sand). In contrast, sand in rivers, deltas, and coastal zones (‘alive’ sand) continues to sustain the stability of our landscape and essential ecosystem functions: filtering water, regulating river flows, protecting shorelines from erosion and storm surges, preventing salinisation of coastal aquifers, and sustaining biodiversity. In nature, sand lasts. 

Demand therefore exists for sand in both its dead and alive forms, but these uses are in direct competition. Deciding whether to take it or leave it requires better data, mapping and monitoring to identify areas of high ecological value and access cumulative impact. The UNEP report also calls for greater transparency in extraction permits, project approvals, and financing flows.

The report is UNEP’s third on sand and sustainability, and the first since 2022. Dr Raji was a guest speaker on the panel launching the report in Geneva this week.