We tackle strategic issues on natural resources, essentially the socio-ecological capital. Our approach promoted through the Michel Serres Institute (on natural resources and public goods; http://institutmichelserres.ens-lyon.fr/) has been the following. 1. In 2013 we focused on plant genetic resources to explore the yield ceiling dimension : de Bossoreille de Ribou, S. et al. (2013) Plant science and agricultural productivity: why are we hitting the yield ceiling? Plant Sci. Int. J. Exp. Plant Biol. 210, 159–176. Genetics and evolution aspects were explored to support thinking in breeding and agricultural developments. 2. Early this year we published a feature review Negrutiu I, Frohlich M, Hamant O (2020) “Flowers in the Anthropocene: a political agenda”. Trends in Plant Science 25, 349-368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2019.12.008. The review brings together concepts in subjects that have not previously been considered together, namely biomass, the critical zone, planetary boundaries, and planetary health. We conclude that there is no certainty that current projections of biomass needs will be met unless biomass production is systematically linked to improved land-use and water management and related policies. The triptych we work on is land/soil, water, and biomass. They are core primary resources that determine the range of possible developmental options for the future. 3. Here we upload the analysis of the state of the global natural resource base through the lens of the planetary health while designing the alliance of life sciences, legal and political studies, and the big data science. We set up priorities in both resource science and governance and suggest instruments and steps in closing the resource-health policy gap. This is a timely and unavoidable endeavor in the current context topped by the combined synergic 2008 and 2020 pandemics crises.