Resource management (RM) activities are activities whose main goal is to preserve and maintain the stock of natural resources and thereby prevent depletion. These activities include, but are not limited to, the reduction of natural resource extraction (through recovery, reuse, recycling and substitution of natural resources); the recovery of the stock of natural resources (increasing or replenishing stock); the general management of natural resources (including oversight, monitoring, supervision and data collection); and the production of goods and services used to manage or preserve natural resources. Resource management activities for environmental protection are described in the Classification of Resource Management Activities (CReMA).

Based on the definitions of environmental activities, sets of environmental products can be defined which are the result of environmental activities. In other words, products that are directly used to protect the environment or management resources, or that have been specifically designed to protect the environment or manage resources.