Global Sand Crisis

United Nations Report calls for urgent action

to regulate sand mining

April 26, 2022: United Nations Environment Program releases report and calls for urgent action to avert a “sand crisis” due to increasing demand of up to 50 billion tons per year.

Sand is one of the most exploited natural resources in the world and the extraction process has detrimental social and environmental impacts.

With demand for this resource so high, sand is being consumed at a faster rate than it can be replaced by geological processes.

Sand mining impacts include:

• Destruction of ecosystems

• Deforestation

• Contamination of water sources

• Erosion

• Biodiversity reduction

• Displacement of Indigenous peoples

• Destruction of Indigenous cultural sites

Click here to watch a short video on extractive sand mining

Vince Beiser is a leading expert on the topic: see his Ted Talk here:

More resources on sand mining:

Forbes Magazine article 2022:

Our ravenous appetite turns humble sand into an endangered natural treasure