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From Resource Efficiency to Responsible and Dematerialized Societies

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Factor X

Part of the book series: Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science ((ECOE,volume 29))

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Abstract

The topic of a sustainable use of natural resources, often understood as resource efficiency, has made its way up on the political agenda. But so far a fundamental change towards a sustainable use of resources has not been achieved. Not only the resource consumption is still growing and destroying more and more the ecosystems but also too often the exploitation of natural resources is still a story of violation of human rights and of intra- and intergenerational unfairness. This chapter describes in a first step the current resource policy landscape, then identifies challenges on the way to further progress and finally outlines next steps for addressing the challenges of the management of natural resources in the context of sustainable development. The analysis of the resource policy landscape shows three clusters of resource policies. The more operational the approaches are the more they are neglecting the inter-linkages amongst the various natural resources and/or the general requirements of sustainability. The challenge is to broaden the perspective of these more implementation oriented resource efficiency concepts into approaches which manage natural resources within a framework of sufficiency, fairness and responsibility, consistency and resilience. Important steps are seen in deeply rooting these principles into the public and private sector, in changing the institutional settings towards a more sustainable resource management. But also in a more systemic thinking, which addresses the nexus of the various resources and in implementing sustainable resource use in the civil society as a practice of daily life.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Independently from the developments in Germany the Concept of a sustainable forestry had already evolved in Japan at the end of the seventeenth century, see e. g. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachhaltigkeit_%28Forstwirtschaft%29#Die_eigenst.C3.A4ndige_Entwicklung_in_Japan

  2. 2.

    Carlowitz (1713).

  3. 3.

    Malthus (1977).

  4. 4.

    Meadows et al. (1977).

  5. 5.

    COM (2001) 264.

  6. 6.

    COM (2005) 670.

  7. 7.

    COM (2011) 21.

  8. 8.

    COM (2011) 571.

  9. 9.

    OECD (2012).

  10. 10.

    BMU (2012).

  11. 11.

    Sources: OECD (2008), Meadows et al. (2004).

  12. 12.

    Krausmann et al. (2009).

  13. 13.

    UNEP (2011).

  14. 14.

    For more details see UNEP (2011) and Dittrich et al. (2012).

  15. 15.

    We suppose that in Germany a reduction of resource use at least by a factor of 10 by 2050 is necessary in order to achieve a level of 6–10 tons per capita and year, which seems acceptable according to current knowledge; for more details see Chap. 3.

  16. 16.

    UNEP (2011).

  17. 17.

    Rockstroem et al. (2009).

  18. 18.

    UN (1987).

  19. 19.

    Dittrich et al. (2012).

  20. 20.

    UNEP (2011), Dittrich et al. (2012).

  21. 21.

    Under GSP schemes of preference-giving counties, selected products originating in developing countries are granted reduced or zero tariff rates over the MFN rates. The least developed countries (LDCs) receive special and preferential treatment for a wider coverage of products and deeper tariff cuts (source: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/DITC/GSP/About-GSP.aspx)

    “… the objectives of the generalized, non-reciprocal, non-discriminatory system of preferences in favour of the developing countries, including special measures in favour of the least advanced among the developing countries, should be:

    1. (a)

      to increase their export earnings;

    2. (b)

      to promote their industrialization; and

    3. (c)

      to accelerate their rates of economic growth.” (Source: Resolution 21 (ii) taken at the UNCTAD II Conference in New Delhi in 1968).

  22. 22.

    In February 2001, the EU Council adopted Regulation (EC) 416/2001, the so-called “EBA Regulation” (“Everything But Arms”), granting duty-free access to imports of all products from LDCs, except arms and ammunitions, without any quantitative restrictions (with the exception of bananas, sugar and rice for a limited period), for more details see http://ec.europa.eu/trade/wider-agenda/development/generalised-system-of-preferences/everything-but-arms/index_en.htm

  23. 23.

    Source: A/HRC/17/31. These Guiding Principles are grounded in recognition

    1. (a)

      States’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms;

    2. (b)

      The role of business enterprises as specialized organs of society performing specialized functions, required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights;

    3. (c)

      The need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached

    and apply to all States and to all business enterprises, both transnational and others, regardless of their size, sector, location, ownership and structure.

    For further information see also http://www.business-humanrights.org/Home

  24. 24.

    ISO 26000:2010. Guidance on Social Responsibility.

  25. 25.

    Especially as some of these raw material such as rare earth metals are of high strategic importance for industrialized economies.

  26. 26.

    See among other Ostrom (1990) und Ostrom and Hess (2006).

  27. 27.

    Ostrom (1990):

    • Clearly defined boundaries (effective exclusion of external un-entitled parties);

    • Rules regarding the appropriation and provision of common resources that are adapted to local conditions;

    • Collective-choice arrangements that allow most resource appropriators to participate in the decision-making process;

    • Effective monitoring by monitors who are part of or accountable to the appropriators;

    • A scale of graduated sanctions for resource appropriators who violate community rules;

    • Mechanisms of conflict resolution that are cheap and of easy access;

    • Self-determination of the community recognized by higher-level authorities;

    • In the case of larger common-pool resources, organization in the form of multiple layers of nested enterprises, with small local CPRs at the base level.

  28. 28.

    As e.g. recommended by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) with respect to raw materials (SRU 2012).

  29. 29.

    For a critical discussion how the WTO could better pursue its commitment to sustainable development see Cosbey (2009).

  30. 30.

    A.o. see Ostrom (2012).

  31. 31.

    In Germany e.g. the Federal Mining Act (Bundesberggesetz), Regional Planning Act (Raumordnungsgesetz), Environmental Audit Act (Umweltauditgesetz), Construction Products Act (Bauproduktegesetz), EIA-Act (UVP-Gesetz).

  32. 32.

    For an impressive case study on the dubious role of Switzerland as a hotspot for the trade of raw material commodities see Erklärung von Bern (2011).

  33. 33.

    See http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/

  34. 34.

    http://eiti.org/

  35. 35.

    Dodd-FrankWall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 1502: Conflict Minerals; Section 1503: Reporting requirements regarding coal or other mine safety; Section 1504: Disclosure of payments by resource extraction issuers.

  36. 36.

    Lee et al. (2012).

  37. 37.

    Cosbey (2009).

  38. 38.

    A report of the German Federal Environment Agency indicates that the total volume of environmentally harmful subsidies amounted to around 48 billion EUR in 2008 (Umweltbundesamt 2011).

  39. 39.

    The idea behind the concept of a virtual resource university is to a create synergy potential by networking of existing research units working on the subject of resource efficiency. Such a network could e.g. develop, initiate and carry out joint interdisciplinary research projects.

  40. 40.

    Andrews-Speed et al. (2012).

  41. 41.

    Umweltbundesamt (2012).

  42. 42.

    See OECD (2011).

  43. 43.

    See a.o. Meadows et al. (1977), Paech (2005), Jackson (2009).

  44. 44.

    Habermann (2009).

  45. 45.

    Welzer (2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal Environment Agency (Germany), Wörlitzer Platz 1, 06844, Dessau-Roßlau, Germany

    Matthias Koller & Jens Günther

Authors
  1. Matthias Koller
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  2. Jens Günther
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Correspondence to Matthias Koller .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sustainable Production and Products Recycling Management, The Federal Environment Agency, Dessau-Roßlau, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany

    Michael Angrick

  2. Economic and Social Environmental Issues Sustainable Consumption, The Federal Environment Agency, Dessau-Roßlau, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany

    Andreas Burger

  3. Environmental Planning and Sustainability Strategies, The Federal Environment Agency, Dessau-Roßlau, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany

    Harry Lehmann

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Koller, M., Günther, J. (2014). From Resource Efficiency to Responsible and Dematerialized Societies. In: Angrick, M., Burger, A., Lehmann, H. (eds) Factor X. Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science, vol 29. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5706-6_16

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