Resource nexus perspectives towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Bleischwitz, Raimund; Spataru, Catalina; VanDeveer, Stacy D.; Obersteiner, Michael; Voet, Ester van der; Johnson, Corey; Andrews‐Speed, Philip; Boersma, Tim; Hoff, Holger; Vuuren, Detlef P. van

doi:10.1038/s41893-018-0173-2

Cited by 283 publications

(168 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

163

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Section 3.3 presents the evidence on the (de)coupling between GDP and comprehensive measures of social metabolism derived with the harmonized and internationally applied economy-wide material and energy flow analysis (MEFA) framework (Haberl et al 2004, Fischer-Kowalski et al 2011, Krausmann et al 2017a. This comprehensive perspective covers combustible energy carriers such as fossil fuels, as well as non-metallic minerals, ores and metals and biomass, which are all required for socio-economic activities and are highly interlinked , Krausmann et al 2017a, Bleischwitz et al 2018b. Section 3.4 summarizes the evidence on the coupling between GDP and emissions based on full GHG accounts (including agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) and non-carbon greenhouse gases, consumption-based CO 2 emissions as well as territorial and consumption-based full GHG accounts).…”

Section: Synthesis Of Key Insights and Quantitative Evidence On Decoumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The socio-ecological systems perspective of socio-economic metabolism (Fischer-Kowalski 1998, Pauliuk and Müller 2014, Pauliuk and Hertwich 2015, Haberl et al 2019 stresses that socio-economic systems continuously require materials and energy for all economic activity and the reproduction of humans, livestock, and all manufactured capital, which necessarily leads to emissions and waste. From this perspective, materials, energy, waste and emissions are inextricably interlinked and therefore need to be treated jointly, an idea sometimes denoted as 'resource nexus' (Bleischwitz et al 2018b). The broad scope of this systematic review was motivated by the aim to capture such systemic linkages, as they are increasingly acknowledged as important for both science and policy (Haberl et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights

Haberl

Wiedenhofer

Virág

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

527

239

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Strategies toward ambitious climate targets usually rely on the concept of 'decoupling'; that is, they aim at promoting economic growth while reducing the use of natural resources and GHG emissions. GDP growth coinciding with absolute reductions in emissions or resource use is denoted as 'absolute decoupling' , as opposed to 'relative decoupling' , where resource use or emissions increase less so than does GDP. Based on the bibliometric mapping in part I (Wiedenhofer et al, 2020 Environ. Res. Lett. 15 063002), we synthesize the evidence emerging from the selected 835 peer-reviewed articles. We evaluate empirical studies of decoupling related to final/useful energy, exergy, use of material resources, as well as CO 2 and total GHG emissions. We find that relative decoupling is frequent for material use as well as GHG and CO 2 emissions but not for useful exergy, a quality-based measure of energy use. Primary energy can be decoupled from GDP largely to the extent to which the conversion of primary energy to useful exergy is improved. Examples of absolute long-term decoupling are rare, but recently some industrialized countries have decoupled GDP from both production-and, weaklier, consumption-based CO 2 emissions. We analyze policies or strategies in the decoupling literature by classifying them into three groups:(1) Green growth, if sufficient reductions of resource use or emissions were deemed possible without altering the growth trajectory.(2) Degrowth, if reductions of resource use or emissions were given priority over GDP growth. (3) Others, e.g. if the role of energy for GDP growth was analyzed without reference to climate change mitigation. We conclude that large rapid absolute reductions of resource use and GHG emissions cannot be achieved through observed decoupling rates, hence decoupling needs to be complemented by sufficiency-oriented strategies and strict enforcement of absolute reduction targets. More research is needed on interdependencies between wellbeing, resources and emissions.

show abstract

Section: Synthesis Of Key Insights and Quantitative Evidence On Decoumentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights

Haberl

Wiedenhofer

Virág

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

527

239

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To understand if decoupling occurs at the scale required to address the sustainability and climate crisis, a broad systemic viewpoint on the interdependencies between energy, materials and emissions therefore becomes necessary, which is sometimes called the 'resource nexus' (Bleischwitz et al 2018). We operationalize the issue through the concept of the socioeconomic metabolism, which posits that to understand the biophysical basis of society, one needs to investigate the systemic relations between economic growth, resource use (energy and materials) and emissions, as embedded in a broader socioeconomic and political perspective Hertwich 2015, Haberl et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping

Wiedenhofer

Virág

Kalt

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

128

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As long as economic growth is a major political goal, decoupling growth from resource use and emissions is a prerequisite for a sustainable net-zero emissions future. However, empirical evidence for absolute decoupling, i.e. decreasing resource use and emissions at the required scale despite continued economic growth, is scarce and scattered across different research streams. In this two-part systematic review, we assess how and to what extent decoupling has been observed and what can be learnt for addressing the sustainability and climate crisis. Based on a transparent approach, we systematically identify and screen more than 11 500 scientific papers, eventually analyzing full texts of 835 empirical studies on the relationship between economic growth (GDP), resource use (materials and energy) and greenhouse gas emissions. Part I of the review examines how decoupling has been investigated across three research streams: energy, materials and energy, and emissions. Part II synthesizes the empirical evidence and policy implications (Haberl et al 2020 Environ. Res. Lett. 15 065003). In part I, we examine the topical, temporal and geographical scopes, methods of analysis, institutional networks and prevalent conceptual angles. We find that in this rapidly growing literature, the vast majority of studies-decomposition, 'causality' and Environmental Kuznets Curve analysis-approach the topic from a statistical-econometric point of view, while hardly acknowledging thermodynamic principles on the role of energy and materials for socio-economic activities. A potentially fundamental incompatibility between economic growth and systemic societal changes to address the climate crisis is rarely considered. We conclude that the existing wealth of empirical evidence merits braver conceptual advances than we have seen thus far. Future work should focus on comprehensive multi-indicator long-term analyses, conceptually grounded on the fundamental biophysical basis of socio-economic activities, incorporating the role of global supply chains as well as the wider societal role and preconditions of economic growth.

show abstract

“…The resource nexus is a powerful concept addressing resource interlinkages and new scarcities. It can be defined as a set of context‐specific critical interlinkages between two or more natural resources used in delivery chains towards systems of provision for water, energy, food, land, and materials (Bleischwitz et al., , Figure ).…”

Section: Challenging Demand Trends For Minerals: New Scarcities and Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remarks on risk assessments above imply capacity building on foresight analysis. Foresight research should address different dimensions including ‘shock scenarios’ that take into account cascading failures of critical infrastructures and conflicts; new ‘business as usual scenarios’ incorporating saturation effects and/or adaptation to climate change; ambitious scenarios blending smart adaptation, abatement and a circular economy; and, finally, review scenarios for interim assessments (Bleischwitz et al., ). Such capacity building will need to include knowledge on data and modelling in relation to socio‐technical systems and governance (Li & Strachan, ); it can apply tools of machine learning and artificial intelligence as well.…”

Section: The Governance Of Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineral resources in the age of climate adaptation and resilience

Bleischwitz

2019

J of Industrial Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article discusses issues on resources availability to achieve climate adaptation and resilience for cities and infrastructures. In the age of climate change, there could be cascading failures through a range of infrastructure breakdowns. Direct and indirect damage costs could exceed what had been estimated in traditional risk assessments. This could be exacerbated through abrupt price peaks in international supply chains of minerals, and through events happening in remote parts of the world that affect extraction and vulnerable industries. The core argument made here is one of feedbacks: climate adaptation has significant resource implications, and how resources are being used will have implications on climate strategies. Industrial Ecology has a role to play assessing those interactions and providing a better grasp of the spatial dimension of material flows, partly to track those flows and align them to specific actors, and partly to address interlinkages across different flows and their stocks ('the resource nexus'). Methodological novelties are needed to better understand the resource base and the socio-economic dimension, especially on innovations and transitions that can help to cope with the challenges ahead. Altogether this would enable research to establish an evidence base on sustainable materials to deliver parts of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to reassess infrastructure assets and the mineral resources in the age of climate adaptation and resilience. K E Y W O R D S circular economy, climate change, economic analysis, materials efficiency, methods, resource management 1 INTRODUCTION Despite the ambitious long-term goal of the Paris Agreement to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 • C above preindustrial levels, climate change is ongoing. With the current CO 2 concentrations reaching the highest levels in the past 800,000 years, average global temperatures are increasing, intensifying societal challenges of coping with: rising sea levels; shifting vegetation zones; and more frequent and intense natural hazards. The media discusses weather extremes such as a 'hothouse' of warm temperatures and the degree to which this might or might not be related to climate change. Academia explores risks of self-reinforcing feedbacks that could put the Earth system towards a planetary threshold and would likely cause serious disruptions to ecosystems, society, and economies (Steffen et al., 2018). Both angles -media and science -are difficult to test against evidence. What is evident, however, is the urgent need to incorporate adaptation and resilience within planning, especially for the built environment. Planners, investors, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders have no other choice but to face risks and get prepared for disruptions and shocks related to climate change. 'Expect the unexpected' , originally coined by Oscar Wilde more than 100 years ago, is becoming a buzzword of modern management language.This article seeks to develop a perspective for mineral resou...

show abstract

Resource nexus perspectives towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Cited by 283 publications

References 50 publications

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping

Mineral resources in the age of climate adaptation and resilience

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About