Sustainable Consumption in Sustainable Cities

Slide1: 

Friedrich Hinterberger President SERI Lahti Science Day 2007 27th. November 2007 Sustainable Consumption in Sustainable Cities – how to realise the opportunity?

An e-presentation: 

2 This presentation saves around 800 kg of natural resources! (compared to a trip Vienna-Lahti-Vienna) An e-presentation

Slide3: 

Born 1959 in Schwanenstadt/Upper Austria Studies 1978-85: economics and statistics, Universität Linz, Austria PhD 1985-90: Universität Gießen, Germany Wuppertal Institute 1993-2000: Project leader, later: acting director for Material Flows and Ecological Economics Since 1999: Founding President of the Sustainable Europe Research Institute among many other functions: member of the board of the Austrian Chapter of the Club of Rome Who I am Dr.Friedrich Hinterberger

Slide4: 

PanEuropean Network; Headquaters in 1090 Wien; currently 15 staff 800.000 Euro annual turnover other offices in Germany, soon in F, GR, ...? Themes: Ecological Economics, Production and Consumption, Globalisation, Science, Policy and Society, Quality of Life Research: Global, European and national Projects Communication: Public, new Media Consulting: Politics, NGOs, Business Profile Sustainable Europe Research Institute

Content: 

5 Content Limits to growth – revisited Measuring sustainability Economic growth and well-being Scenarios towards a sustainable future

Content: 

6 Content Limits to growth – revisited Measuring sustainability Economic growth and well-being Scenarios towards a sustainable future

Slide7: 

7 R.Carlson: The silent spring. 1962 K.Boulding: Spaceship earth Meadows et al: Limits to growth 1972 “Global 2000” The history of environmental concerns

Slide8: 

8 positive question: what is? normative question: what should be? policy analysis: what can be done? what is given? What can be changed? Measuring what?

Slide9: 

9 What is at stake? At the recently held annual meeting of the Club of Rome in Madrid, the outgoing IMF general secretary Rodrigo Rato talked about three serious risks to the world’s economic growth: • the instability of the financial markets, • climate change, and • demographic change.

The normative view: triangle of sustainable development: 

10 Dr. Friedrich Hinterberger, Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI)‏ economic social ecological goals .... no hierarchy The normative view: triangle of sustainable development

Positive view: a hierarchy of sustainable development: 

11 Dr. Friedrich Hinterberger, Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI)‏ ecological social economic systems are embedded in each other ... Co-Evolution Positive view: a hierarchy of sustainable development

Slide12: 

12 Is there a Climate “problem”? (New) “Limits to growth“ are still relevant !

Slide14: 

14 Der Spiegel: “A new cold war“ The global dimension

Global change: 

‘The linkages between environmental well-being, vulnerability and poverty emerged as a critical issue in 2005. Extreme weather events and new research and data were so dramatic that the year may prove a turning point in the urgency of our awareness and response (GEO, Yearbook 2006)’ ‘The Munich Re Foundation, part of one of the world’s leading re-insurance companies, estimated that 2005 had witnessed the largest financial losses ever as a result of weather-related natural disasters, at more than US$200 billion’ Global change

Nightlights 2000: 

16 Nakicenovic, 2006 Nightlights 2000

Nightlights 2070: 

17 Nakicenovic, 2006 Nightlights 2070

Content: 

18 Content Limits to growth – revisited Measuring sustainability Economic growth and well-being Scenarios towards a sustainable future

Indicators: 

19 „you can‘t manage … what you can‘t measure“ Indicators

Measuring what?: 

20 Measuring what? Achievement of pre-defined goals!

Sustainable development: 

21 Sustainable development is a development that seeks to meet the demand of the present generation without compromizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The Brundtland Report (1987) Sustainable development

Competition for attention : 

22 „Frontpage indicators“ Economic (GDP) growth (Un) employment (… environment…) ??? Competition for attention

From Inputs to Outputs: 

23 Products and services From Inputs to Outputs

Measuring the environment: 

24 Material flows and ecological rucksacks Ecological footprints CO2 rucksacks Water rucksacks Measuring the environment

Competition for attention: 

25 „Frontpage indicators“ Economic (GDP) growth (Un) employment Total material consumption, ecological footprint etc. Competition for attention

Slide26: 

www.materialflows.net

Slide27: 

27 Global Used Extraction by Material Category

Global perspectives: 

28 Domestic material extraction in EU-25 (2005)‏ Global (domestic) material extraction (2005)‏ Per capita: 15.7 t Per € (EU-12): 0.77 kg Total: 7.2 billion t 58.3 billion t 9.0 t 0.?? kg World EU Global perspectives

Slide29: 

29 Quelle: Giljum et al. 2004 Results De-coupling of GDP and resource extraction (1980 = 100)‏

CO2 rucksack of food: 

30 Quelle: Der Standard, nach Berechnungen von SERI, 2007 CO2 emited by transport of food (imported vs. domestic production) CO2 rucksack of food

Ecological Footprint: 

Dr. Stefan Giljum 31 Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees (1992) Sum of all impacts on the biocapacity through the human use of natural resources Scale: product, city, region, national and global level Calculation Unit: Area Physical limits of the Planet! Material and Energy Use converted into Area www.seri.at/footprint Ecological Footprint

Ecological footprint: 

32 Agriculture Forestry Pasture Ecological footprint

Ecological footprint: 

33 Agriculture Forestry Pasture Ecological footprint

Global Overshoot: 

34 Growth of > 80% from 1960 to 2003 2003: 25% Overshoot (1,25 Planets)‏ long term destruction of “natural capital” Global Ecological Footprint, 1960-2003 Source: WWF et al., 2006 Global Overshoot

Slide35: 

35 Extraction – Production/Trade – Consumption

Slide36: 

36 Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity by Region (2001) Source: WWF et al., 2006

CO2-Emissions: 

37 CO2-Emissions (in tons) per capita, 2001 CO2-Emissions

Today: unequal distribution: 

38 Today: unequal distribution

Slide39: 

39 Fair share - unsustainable

Slide40: 

40 Fair share - sustainable

eco-efficiency: 

41 More well-being… … less resource use! eco-efficiency

Some elements: 

42 Meat requires 10x more resources, emissions, ... Durable products … Simplify your life! Slowfood More leisure, less stress 1 Euro „buys“ 3 kg of nature Regional products Some elements All this has important consequences and sets the requirements for (eco-)innovation and social systems ! New, dematerialized, technologies Product- service-systems

Does technology save the environment?: 

43 Does technology save the environment?

All in one: 

44 All in one

Or like this?: 

45 Or like this?

Content: 

46 Content Limits to growth – revisited Measuring sustainability Economic growth and well-being Scenarios towards a sustainable future

Questioning the „growth paradigm“: 

47 Questioning the „growth paradigm“ Economic growth is, together with population growth, an important driver of global environmental change While the poorer parts of the world clearly need significantly more income to improve their standard of living, more income in Europe, America and Japan makes less people „happy“ Stress and loneliness increase, consumption looks more and more like an addiction, illness is increasingly a result of excess (obesity, heart disease etc) and not of lack.

Eco-sufficiency: 

48 Eco-sufficiency While eco-efficiency aims to improve the effectiveness of material, energy, and land use, eco-sufficiency aims at reducing negative environmental consequences through a reduction of the demand for material consumer goods. Eco-sufficiency or strong sustainable consumption requires changes in infrastructures and choices as well as a questioning of the levels and drivers of consumption.

Sustainable development: 

49 Sustainable development is a development that seeks to meet the demand of the present generation without compromizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development

or: 

50 Sustainable development is a development that allows for happiness of the present generation without compromizing the ability of future generations to be happy. or

A first step! : 

51 The renewed European Strategy for Sustainable Development (EU SDS 2006 - achieved under the Austrian Presidency): Europeans value quality of life Well-being and quality of life as an overarching principle various references throughout the document... (eg. on public health)‏ A first step!

WHAT makes us “happy”? : 

52 Security of person Security of health Security of „slow time“ / leisure economy Belongingness (neighbourhood / spirituality)‏ Tim O'Riordan WHAT makes us “happy”?

The role of the economy: 

53 The „good economy“ should serve „the good life“! E.Phelps, Nobel laureate in economics (2006) The role of the economy

Beyond GDP: 

54 Beyond GDP Correcting GDP -> towards a „Green GDP“ Long lists of indicators Combined indicators DIRECT measurement of quality of life/well-being/happiness‏ Relate these figures to environmental indicators

GDP and well-being (1)‏: 

55 GDP and well-being (1)‏

Content: 

56 Content Limits to growth – revisited Measuring sustainability Economic growth and well-being Scenarios towards a sustainable future

Slide57: 

57 www.mosus.net Is Europe sustainable? Modelling opportunities and limits for restructuring Europe towards sustainability Funded by the 5th Framework Programme of the European Union (sub-programme environment and sustainable development)‏ Endorsed by the Industrial Transformation Project of the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP-IT)‏

Slide58: 

58 Key research questions • What are the effects of environmental policy measures oriented towards higher resource and energy efficiency on economic policy goals such as growth, competitiveness and employment? • How effective are different policy measures to reduce environmental pressures (natural resource use / energy and climate)? • What are the impacts of the implementation of these policy measures for other world regions?

Slide59: 

59 MOSUS/petrE: integrated economic-environmental model GINFORS (Global Interindustry Forecasting System), Provided by Institute for Economic Structures Research (GWS)‏ Multi-country (56 countries/world regions), multi-sectoral (41 sectors) model system, including international trade and energy use / CO2 emissions Extended by material input models

Slide60: 

60

Slide61: 

61 reduced environmental pressure increased economic growth more jobs Scenario results from the MOSUS project (www.mosus.net)‏ “win-win-win” is possible! Note: Large differences between countries!

But: 

62 GDP increases by 41 % Resource productivity increases by 49 % Domestic extraction reduces only by 5 % Rebound effects! This might give room for further decrease of environmental impacts But

Sustainability problems: 

63 Overconsumption? (in highly industrialized parts of the world)‏ How to avoid rebound effects? Sustainability problems

How to realize this opportunity?: 

64 Sustainable Cities need‏ sustainable urban life styles! How to realize this opportunity?

Integrated policies : 

65 ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE and PUBLIC FINANCE UNEMPLOYMENT and SOCIAL SECURITY Replace income tax (partly) by material input tax, CO2 tax subsidy-shift, regulations Reduction of annual working times and increased flexibility Social security through “negative income tax” (basic income)‏ Quelle: www.a-und-oe.de Integrated policies

“mixed work” mixed qualifications, income mixes: 

66 Work as self-provider and self educator Paid work (full time, part time; self-employed, unemployed)‏ Voluntary work in the community Caring work “mixed work” mixed qualifications, income mixes

Slide67: 

67 Less paid work = less income = less (material) consumption

A Scenario: 

68 WORKING TIME UNEMPLOYMENT www.a-und-oe.de 10,5 % 3,1 % 37,5 h 30 h GOVERNMENT-DEFICIT +/- 0 A Scenario

Beyond GDP: 

69 Reduce our Environmental Space ! Increase our Well-Being / quality of life ! Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ??? Beyond GDP

Slide70: 

70 What do we need for all this? Policy and business action Civil society's and individual responsibility Communication and education Cultural creativity And the right facts and figures (measuring SD!)‏

Multi-level sustainability: 

71 Multi-level sustainability

... In a holistic way: 

72 heart brain hands spirit ... In a holistic way

Kiitos!: 

73 Thank you for your attention! Presentation will be available for download at www.seri.at/measuringprogress Kiitos!