Mega-urban regions (MURs) are important consumers or traders of resources from, or producers of wastes destined for, the global hinterlands. These roles, coupled with their concentration, clustering and centrality effects, mean MURs have a disproportionately large effect on the sustainability of global production-consumption systems (PCSs). Actions taken within MURs influence the sustainability of global PCSs, and vice versa; but that influence is complicated by complex governance intersections. Three cases are used to illustrate governance innovation in MUR-PCS interactions: industrial symbiosis in Tianjin, China; electricity production in London, UK; and the adoption of standards and labels for seafood in Bangkok, Thailand. In London and Tianjin, waste capture reduced consumption of hinterland resources, whereas in Bangkok, the aim was to improve the sustainability of resource use in coastal and marine hinterlands. We suggest an agenda for research to evaluate the potential for transferrable MUR governance innovation to enable sustainable and equitable PCSs.

The sustainability transition driven in large part by global climate change has created demand for a new generation of green technologies highly dependent on rare earth minerals. These rare earth and critical minerals are also needed for consumer and medical products as well as for military uses. This has created unintended risks, as China has assumed the world’s dominant position by controlling access to and pro-cessing of these minerals, leaving countries around the world to develop policies and approaches to minimize national security risks. This paper reviews the sustainability drivers of REEs as well as the role that the U.S. administration is taking which has triggered geopolitical tensions with historic NATO allies including the threat of ac-quiring Greenland for access to REEs and critical minerals. We explore the great power competition over REEs and chart the location and value of NATO as an alliance in these terms. This includes developing up to date data on the spatial variability of key minerals for the sustainability transition possessed by NATO and other U.S. friendly nations.