Data & Tools
We develop databases, models, and visualisation tools to support science-based policy development for a sustainable use of natural resources. Committed to an open science approach, our data and tools are freely available.
Databases & Models
We create databases and accounts on global resource use for the national and sectoral level and develop models to trace resource flows through the global economy, to link final consumption and often distant environmental pressures and related impacts.Database on Global Coal and Metal Mining
While the extraction of natural resources has been well documented and analysed at the national level, production trends at the level of individual mines are more difficult to uncover, mainly due to poor availability of mining data with sub-national detail. We contribute to filling this gap by presenting an open database on global coal and metal mine production on the level of individual mines. The first version of the database published in 2023 is based on manually gathered information from more than 1900 freely available reports of mining companies, where every data point is linked to its source document, ensuring full transparency. It covers 1171 individual mines and reports mine-level production for 80 different materials in the period 2000–2021. Furthermore, also data on mining coordinates, ownership, mineral reserves, mining waste, transportation of mining products, as well as mineral processing capacities (smelters and mineral refineries) and production is included.
Jasansky, S., Lieber, M., Giljum, S. et al. An open database on global coal and metal mine production. Sci Data 10, 52 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-01965-y
- Jasansky, S., Lieber, M., Giljum, S., & Maus, V. (2023). An open database on global coal and metal mine production. Scientific data, 10(1), Article 52. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-01965-y
- Wegner Maus, V., da Silva, D., da Rosa, R., Gutschlhofer, J., Giljum, S., Gass, S., Luckeneder, S., Lieber, M., & McCallum, I. (2022). Global-scale mining polygons (Version 2). https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.942325
EXIOBASE
EXIOBASE is a global Environmentally Extended Multi-Regional Input-Output (EE-MRIO) database developed through a series of European Commission-funded projects. It was created by a consortium including the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) at Leiden University, 2.-0 LCA consultants and us, the research group GRU. EXIOBASE stands out for its exceptional sectoral detail, covering 163 industries and 200 products, and provides comprehensive data for analyzing environmental pressures and impacts across global supply chains.
Stadler, K., Wood, R., Bulavskaya, T., Södersten, C.-J., Simas, M., Schmidt, S., Usubiaga, A., Acosta-Fernández, J., Kuenen, J., Bruckner, M., Giljum, S., Lutter, S., Merciai, S., Schmidt, J.H., Theurl, M.C., Plutzar, C., Kastner, T., Eisenmenger, N., Erb, K.-H., de Koning, A., Tukker, A., 2018. EXIOBASE 3: Developing a Time Series of Detailed Environmentally Extended Multi-Regional Input-Output Tables. Journal of Industrial Ecology 22, 502-515, doi:10.1111/jiec.12715
- Tukker, A., Wood, R., & Giljum, S. (2018). Relevance of Global Multi Regional Input Output Databases for Global Environmental Policy: Experiences with EXIOBASE 3. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 22(3), 482-484. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12767
- Wieland, H., Giljum, S., Bruckner, M., Owen, A. E., & Wood, R. (2018). Structural production layer decomposition: a new method to measure differences between MRIO databases for footprint assessments. Economic Systems Research, 30(1), 61 - 84. https://doi.org/10.1080/09535314.2017.1350831
- Tukker, A., Giljum, S., & Wood, R. (2018). Recent Progress in Assessment of Resource Efficiency and Environmental Impacts Embodied in Trade: An Introduction to this Special Issue. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 22(3), 489 - 501. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12736
- Wood, R., Stadler, K., Simas, M., Bulavskaya, T., Giljum, S., Lutter, F. S., & Tukker, A. (2018). Growth in Environmental Footprints and Environmental Impacts Embodied in Trade: Resource Efficiency Indicators from EXIOBASE3. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 22(3), 553 - 564. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12735
- Tukker, A., de Koning, A., Owen, A., Lutter, F. S., Bruckner, M., Giljum, S., Stadler, K., Wood, R., & Hoekstra, R. (2018). Towards Robust, Authoritative Assessments of Environmental Impacts Embodied in Trade: Current State and Recommendations. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 22(3), 585 - 598. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12716
- Stadler, K., Wood, R., Bulavskaya, T., Södersten, C.-J., Simas, M., Schmidt, S., Kunen, J., Bruckner, M., Giljum, S., Lutter, F. S., Acosta-Fernández, J., Merciai, S., Schmidt, J. H., Theurl, M. C., Plutzar, C., Eisenmenger, N., Erb, K.-H., de Koning, A., & Tukker, A. (2018). EXIOBASE 3: Developing a Time Series of Detailed Environmentally Extended Multi-Regional Input-Output Tables. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 22(3), 502 - 515. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12715
- Tukker, A., Bulavskaya, T., Giljum, S., de Koning, A., Lutter, F. S., Simas, M., Stadler, K., & Wood, R. (2016). Environmental and resource footprints in a global context: Europe's structural deficit in resource endowments. Global Environmental Change - Human and Policy Dimensions, 40, 171 - 181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.07.002
- Giljum, S., Wieland, H., Lutter, F. S., Bruckner, M., Wood, R., Tukker, A., & Stadler, K. (2016). Identifying priority areas for European resource policies: a MRIO-based material footprint assessment. Journal of Economic Structures, 5(1), 1 - 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40008-016-0048-5
- Lutter, F. S., Pfister, S., Giljum, S., Wieland, H., & Mutel, C. (2016). Spatially explicit assessment of water embodied in European trade: A product-level multi-regional input-output analysis. Global Environmental Change - Human and Policy Dimensions, 38, 171 - 182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.03.001
- Wood, R., Stadler, K., Bulavskaya, T., Lutter, F. S., Giljum, S., de Koning, A., Kuenen, J., Schütz, H., Acosta-Fernandez, J., Usubiaga, A., Simas, M., Ivanova, O., Schmidt, J., Merciai, S., & Tukker, A. (2015). Global sustainability accounting - developing EXIOBASE for multi-regional footprint analysis. Sustainability, 7(1), 138 - 163. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7010138
- Tukker, A., de Koning, A., Wood, R., Hawkins, T., Lutter, F. S., Acosta, J., Rueda-Cantuche, J.-M., Bouwmeester, M., Oosterhaven, J., & Drosdowski, T. (2013). EXIOPOL Development and illustratvie analyses of detailed global MR EE SUT(IOT). Economic Systems Research, 25, 50 - 70.
- Tukker, A., Poliakov, E., Heijungs, R., Hawkins, T., Neuwahl, F., M. Rueda-Cantuche, J., Giljum, S., Moll, S., Oosterhaven, J., & Bouwmeester, M. (2009). Towards a global multi-regional environmentally extended input-output database. Ecological Economics, 68(7), 1928 - 1937.
FABIO
The Food and Agriculture Biomass Input-Output (FABIO) model revolutionizes the way we analyze global biomass flows and embodied land use across supply chains. Spanning around 190 countries and covering 120-130 products from 1986 to 2022, it bridges critical gaps in understanding the environmental impacts of our food and agriculture systems. Unlike traditional models that rely solely on monetary data, FABIO integrates physical data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, capturing crop production, trade, and use in physical units. Enriched with data on technical and metabolic conversion efficiencies, this results in a robust, balanced input-output framework. Where physical data is limited, FABIO incorporates monetary data from EXIOBASE 3, ensuring coverage of the entire supply chain. Enabling analyses such as the biodiversity impacts of dietary shifts or consequences of supply chain disruptions, FABIO supports the design of sustainable and resilient food systems.
Bruckner, Martin; Wood, Richard; Moran, Daniel; Kuschnig, Nikolas; Wieland, Hanspeter; Maus, Victor; Börner, Jan (2019): FABIO-The Construction of the Food and Agriculture Biomass Input-Output Model. In: Environmental Science & Technology 53 (19), S. 11302–11312. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b03554
- Haddad, S., Escobar, N., Bruckner, M., & Britz, W. (2024). Subsidizing extensive cattle production in the European Union has major implications for global agricultural trade and climate change. Journal of Cleaner Production, 448, Article 141074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141074
- Vanham, D., Bruckner, M., Schwarzmueller, F., Schyns, J., & Kastner, T. (2023). Multi-model assessment identifies livestock grazing as a major contributor to variation in European Union land and water footprints. Nature Food, 4(7), 575-584. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00797-8
- Bruckner, M., Kreimel, J., & Trsek, S. (2023). Ernährungspyramide 2.0. Für eine gesunde und nachhaltige Ernährung in Österreich.
- Laber, M., Klimek, P., Bruckner, M., Yang, L., & Thurner, S. (2023). Shock propagation from the Russia–Ukraine conflict on international multilayer food production network determines global food availability. Nature Food, 4(6), 508-517. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00771-4
- Laber, M., Klimek, P., Bruckner, M., Yang, L., & Thurner, S. (2022). Shock propagation in international multilayer food-production network determines global food availability: the case of the Ukraine war. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2210.01846
- Sun, Z., Behrens, P., Tukker, A., Bruckner, M., & Scherer, L. (2022). Global Human Consumption Threatens Key Biodiversity Areas. Environmental Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00506
- Ye, Q., Bruckner, M., Wang, R., Schyns, J. F., Zhuo, L., Yang, L., Su, H., & Krol, M. S. (2022). A hybrid multi-regional input-output model of China: Integrating the physical agricultural biomass and food system into the monetary supply chain. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105981
- Sun, Z., Behrens, P., Tukker, A., Bruckner, M., & Scherer, L. (2022). Shared and environmentally just responsibility for global biodiversity loss. Ecological Economics, 194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107339
- Sun, Z., Scherer, L., Tukker, A., Spawn-Lee, S. A., Bruckner, M., Gibbs, H. K., & Behrens, P. (2022). Dietary change in high-income nations alone can lead to substantial double climate dividend. Nature Food, 3, 29–37. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00431-5
- Helander, H., Bruckner, M., Leipold, S., Petit-Boix, A., & Bringezu, S. (2021). Eating healthy or wasting less? Reducing resource footprints of food consumption. Environmental Research Letters, 16(5), 054033. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe673
- Dorninger, C., von Wehrden, H., Krausmann, F., Bruckner, M., Feng, K., Hubacek, K., Erb, K.-H., & Abson, D. J. (2021). The effect of industrialization and globalization on domestic land-use: A global resource footprint perspective. Global Environmental Change, 69, 102311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102311
- Frey, V., & Bruckner, M. (2021). The global carbon footprint of Austria's consumption of agricultural (food and non-food) products. Ecological Economic Papers No. 41/2021 https://doi.org/10.57938/7cd7ee70-111e-4784-80e9-84965bf2a371
- Bruckner, M., Wood, R., Moran, D., Kuschnig, N., Wieland, H., Wegner Maus, V., & Börner, J. (2019). FABIO—The Construction of the Food and Agriculture Biomass Input–Output Model. Environmental Science and Technology, 53(19), 11302 - 11312. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03554
- Bruckner, M., Wood, R., Moran, D., Kuschnig, N., Wieland, H., & Wegner Maus, V. (2019). FABIO - The Construction of the Food and Agriculture Biomass Input-Output Model. Ecological Economic Papers No. 27 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03554
Global Energy Flow Model
The final product will be an innovative physical energy multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model that will offer unprecedented detail, combining high-resolution data on energy supply and end-use technologies across energy-intensive sectors. Built from extended energy balances from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and BACI trade data, it will provide a robust framework for tracing embodied energy flows from production to final demand. The model will be designed to map the energy system supply chain resilience in times of energy transition and accelerating climate change. By grounding the model in physical units rather than sometimes volatile energy market prices, we can avoid fluctuations that occur in times of energy supply shocks. Additionally, linking the physical model with a complementary monetary MRIO model will enable critical insights into energy transition challenges, such as the role of capital investments in a rapidly transforming energy landscape.
Global Iron and Steel Flow Model
In GRU, we develop global supply chain and trade models based on physical data (so-called global physical multi-regional input-output (MRIO) models). Apart from physical MRIO models for agriculture and food products (see FABIO), forestry (FORBIO) and energy flows (global energy flow model), we developed a model for global iron and steel flows. This model covers 32 countries and regions that produce and consume iron and steel, 30 processes that illustrate the various manufacturing steps, and 39 types of iron/steel flows and related products. It was developed applying the industrial ecology virtual laboratory (IELab) concept and is available for the period of 2008 to 2017.
Wieland, H., Lenzen, M., Geschke, A., Fry, J., Wiedenhofer, D., Eisenmenger, N., Schenk, J., Giljum, S., 2021. The PIOLab: Building global physical input–output tables in a virtual laboratory. Journal of Industrial Ecology 26, 683-703. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13215.
- Wieland, H., Lenzen, M., Geschke, A., Fry, J., Wiedenhofer, D., Eisenmenger, N., Schenk, J., & Giljum, S. (2021). The PIOLab: Building global physical input–output tables in a virtual laboratory. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 1 - 21. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13215
- Wieland, H., Lenzen, M., Geschke, A., Fry, J., Wiedenhofer, D., Eisenmenger, N., Schenk, J., & Giljum, S. (2020). The PIOLab: Building global physical input-output tables in a virtual laboratory. WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. Ecological Economic Papers No. 36 https://doi.org/10.57938/0905cf57-48d1-41f6-ab14-1df5ae92d5d3
Global Mining Land Use Data
The growing demand for minerals has pushed mining activities into new areas affecting biodiversity-rich natural biomes. Mapping the global mining sector’s land use is a prerequisite for quantifying and mitigating its adverse impacts. We use Satellite Earth Observation to map the global land area of mineral extraction. Using satellite images from Sentinel-2 satellites of the European Space Agency and other sources we delineate the mining extents (polygons) through visual interpretation. This research so far resulted in two versions of novel global-scale data sets consisting of around 45,000 polygons adding up to more than 100,000 km². These polygons cover all mining ground features identified from satellites, including open cuts, tailing dams, waste rock dumps, water ponds, and processing infrastructure. Our data is the starting point for analysing the environmental impacts of mining, such as forest loss due to the expansion of mining sites.
Maus, V., Giljum, S., da Silva, D.M., Gutschlhofer, J., da Rosa, R.P., Luckeneder, S., Gass, S.L.B., Lieber, M., McCallum, I., 2022. An update on global mining land use. Scientific Data 9 (1), 1–11. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01547-4.
- Giljum, S., Maus, V., Kuschnig, N., Luckeneder, S., Tost, M., Sonter, L. J., & Bebbington, A. J. (2022). A pantropical assessment of deforestation caused by industrial mining. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(38), Article e2118273119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118273119
- Wegner Maus, V., Giljum, S., da Silva, D., Gutschlhofer, J., da Rosa, R., Luckeneder, S., Gass, S., Lieber, M., & McCallum, I. (2022). An update on global mining land use. Scientific data, 9(433), 1 - 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01547-4
- Wegner Maus, V., Giljum, S., Gutschlhofer, J., da Silva, D. M., Probst, M., Gass, S. L. B., Luckeneder, S., Lieber, M., & McCallum, I. (2020). A global-scale data set of mining areas. Scientific data, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00624-w
GLORIA
The Global Resource Input-Output Assessment (GLORIA) database is a Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) database developed by the University of Sydney for the UN International Resource Panel (UN IRP). GLORIA covers over 160 regions and 97 economic sectors, spanning the years 1990 to 2024 and allows tracking resource flows and environmental impacts across supply chains. It builds upon the UN IRP’s Global Material Flows Database and functions as the underlying MRIO database for the Sustainable Consumption and Production Hotspots Analysis Tool (SCP-HAT). We provide, harmonize, and update a wide range of environmental extensions for GLORIA, which enable tracing and comparing different environmental pressures and related impacts occurring at the different stages of even very complex supply chains, and allocating them to the country of final consumption or sectoral production.
Lenzen, M., Geschke, A., West, J., Fry, J., Malik, A., Giljum, S., Milà i Canals, L., Piñero, P., Lutter, S., Wiedmann, T., Li, M., Sevenster, M., Potočnik, J., Teixeira, I., van Voore, M., Nansai, K., Schandl, H., 2021. Implementing the material footprint to measure progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 12. Nat. Sustain. 112, 6271. 10.1038/s41893-021-00811-6
- Malik, A., Lenzen, M., Li, M., Mora, C., Carter, S., Giljum, S., Lutter, S., & Gómez-Paredes, J. (2024). Polarizing and equalizing trends in international trade and Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Sustainability, 7(10), 1359-1370. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01397-5
- Lenzen, M., Geschke, A., West, J., Fry, J., Malik, A., Giljum, S., Milà i Canals, L., Piñero, P., Lutter, F. S., Wiedmann, T., Li, M., Sevenster, M., Potočnik, J., Teixeira, I., Van Voore, M., Nansai, K., & Schandl, H. (2021). Implementing the material footprint to measure progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 12. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00811-6
IRP Global Material Flows Database
The Global Material Flows Database offers data to help governments, researchers, and other users to understand the link between economic growth and raw material use and supports the development and evaluation of sustainable consumption and production policies. It is based on authoritative, publicly accessible international data sources wherever possible, combined with state-of-the-art methodologies for estimating material flow accounts. It covers the period 1970 to 2024, for around 200 countries and regions and reports extraction and direct trade of raw materials, indirect trade flows (including material footprints), as well as intensities derived from these material measures. The database is funded by the International Resource Panel (IRP) and compiled and maintained by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the research group GRU, in collaboration with BOKU University and Nagoya University.
IRP, 2019. Global Resources Outlook 2019: Natural Resources for the Future We Want. Oberle, B., Bringezu, S., Hatfield-Dodds, S., Hellweg, S., Schandl, H., Clement, J., and Cabernard, L., Che, N., Chen, D., Droz-Georget , H., Ekins, P., Fischer-Kowalski, M., Flörke, M., Frank, S., Froemelt , A., Geschke, A., Haupt , M., Havlik, P., Hüfner, R., Lenzen, M., Lieber, M., Liu, B., Lu, Y., Lutter, S., Mehr , J., Miatto, A., Newth, D., Oberschelp , C., Obersteiner, M., Pfister, S., Piccoli, E., Schaldach, R., Schüngel, J., Sonderegger, T., Sudheshwar, A., Tanikawa, H., van der Voet, E., Walker, C., West, J., Wang, Z., Zhu, B. A Report of the International Resource Panel. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi.
Visualisation tools
GRU’s visualisation tools aim at supporting the interpretation of complex scientific data and socio-economic interrelationships to ultimately foster science-based policy design.FABIO Viewer
The FABIO Viewer is an open-source visualization tool powered by the hybrid FABIO v1.0 model, offering an intuitive way to explore biomass flows from production regions to consuming regions and vice versa.
FABIO v1.0 provides comprehensive multi-regional physical supply-use and input-output tables, covering agriculture and forestry flows as well as embodied land use across global supply chains, spanning 191 countries and 130 products from 1986 to 2013. This powerful tool enables users to delve into the intricate connections between production, trade, and consumption, revealing the environmental and resource implications of global biomass use.
The figures generated by the FABIO Viewer are licensed under CC BY 4.0.
WU Vienna (2019): Visualizations based upon the hybrid FABIO model, v1.0. Vienna University of Economics and Business. Online available at: fineprint.global/fabio-viewer (licensed under CC BY 4.0)
FINEPRINT Viewer
The FINEPRINT Viewer displays geospatial layers of information on global mining activities based on satellite images developed in the ERC FINEPRINT project. The Viewer features an interactive global map, where users can browse across and zoom into mining areas worldwide. The geospatial data layers include the two versions of the Global Mining Land Use Data informing about land areas occupied by mine sites around the globe. One layer also displays the location of mines included in the Database on Global Coal and Metal Mining, where data on more than 1100 mines globally was gathered from mining company reports.
WU Vienna (2023): FINEPRINT Viewer. Geospatial visualisation of global mining data. https://www.fineprint.global/viewer
- Jasansky, S., Lieber, M., Giljum, S., & Maus, V. (2023). An open database on global coal and metal mine production. Scientific data, 10(1), Article 52. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-01965-y
- Giljum, S., Maus, V., Kuschnig, N., Luckeneder, S., Tost, M., Sonter, L. J., & Bebbington, A. J. (2022). A pantropical assessment of deforestation caused by industrial mining. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(38), Article e2118273119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118273119
- Wegner Maus, V., Giljum, S., da Silva, D., Gutschlhofer, J., da Rosa, R., Luckeneder, S., Gass, S., Lieber, M., & McCallum, I. (2022). An update on global mining land use. Scientific data, 9(433), 1 - 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01547-4
- Wegner Maus, V., Giljum, S., Gutschlhofer, J., da Silva, D. M., Probst, M., Gass, S. L. B., Luckeneder, S., Lieber, M., & McCallum, I. (2020). A global-scale data set of mining areas. Scientific data, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00624-w
SCP-HAT
The Sustainable Consumption and Production Hotspot Analyis Tool (SCP-HAT) is a free online tool designed to identify hotspot areas of unsustainable consumption and production. Commissioned by the UN Life Cycle Initiative, in collaboration with the One Planet Network and the International Resource Panel, it supports the development of science-based national sustainable consumption and production, and climate policies. SCP-HAT can pinpoint hotspots related to domestic pressures and impacts (from a production or territorial perspective) as well as indirect (i.e. trade-related) impact hotspots resulting from the consumption activities of national economies. It allows for analysing the performance of 164 countries and 120 economic sectors from 1990 to 2024. The tool was developed by our research group GRU in collaboration with the CSIRO, kindly supported by Sydney University & the IELab who provided the GLORIA database.
UNEP (2024). SCP-HAT database v3.0. UN Life Cycle Initiative, UN One Planet Network, UN International Resource Panel. Paris. https://scp-hat.org
www.materialflows.net
www.materialflows.net is the official visualisation portal of the UN IRP Global Material Flows Database, providing national and sectoral material flow data, visualisations and analyses . It covers more than 200 countries, a period from 1970 to 2024, and more than 300 different materials aggregated into 13 categories. At the heart of the web portal lies its Visualisation Centre, where users can customise a wealth of different visualisation options according to their interests and analytical needs. The website also offers a wide range of features introducing users to the concepts of economy-wide material flow accounting (EW-MFA) and setting the data on global material use into its broader context. Hosted by us, GRU, the website was first launched in 2006 and since then has been further developed and updated kindly funded by the Austrian Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology.