The first Resource Efficiency: Economics and Outlook for Asia-Pacific (REEO) report focuses on natural resources both as drivers and as consequences of economic activity and social development. The report highlights the recent history of natural resource use in the Asia-Pacific region, covering the period from 1970 to 2005, which has been a time of unprecedented economic development in many countries in the region. This report also provides an overview of resource use patterns in the region, explains why sustainable resource use and resource efficiency will become an economic and social imperative for the region, and makes suggestions on how to achieve sustainable resource use and resource efficiency via well designed policies.