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Environmental governance in the European Union: strategies and instruments for absolute decoupling

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Giljum
  • Thomas Hak
  • Friedrich Hinterberger
  • Jan Kovanda

Abstract

The EU recently emphasised the need to speed up the pace of reforms to improve the state of the environment both in Europe and internationally. This becomes in particular challenging, as the "Lisbon Strategy" defines the general goal of an annual economic growth rate of 3%. Decoupling of economic growth from the use of natural resources and the production of waste and emissions is regarded as the core strategy to reconcile environmental protection and continued economic growth. However, measurable policy targets are to a large extent, missing. Furthermore, a comprehensive headline indicator for the evaluation of progress towards an absolute reduction of environmental pressures is missing in the Lisbon indicator set. We use the concept of societal metabolism as a framework for deriving priority environmental policy themes for decoupling efforts. A mix of policy instruments is suggested for achieving the overarching target of absolute decoupling through dematerialisation (quantity) and detoxification (quality) of production and consumption activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Giljum & Thomas Hak & Friedrich Hinterberger & Jan Kovanda, 2005. "Environmental governance in the European Union: strategies and instruments for absolute decoupling," International Journal of Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1/2), pages 31-46.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijsusd:v:8:y:2005:i:1/2:p:31-46
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Susana Silva & Isabel Soares & Oscar Afonso, 2021. "Decoupling economic growth from emissions: the case of policies promoting resource substitution," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 8331-8347, June.
    2. Emma Watkins & Patrick Ten Brink & Jean-Pierre Schweitzer & Lucile Rogissart & Martin Nesbit, 2016. "Policy Mixes to Achieve Absolute Decoupling: An Ex Ante Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-17, June.
    3. Martín Alejandro Iribarnegaray & Lucas Seghezzo, 2012. "Governance, Sustainability and Decision Making in Water and Sanitation Management Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(11), pages 1-24, November.
    4. James D Ward & Paul C Sutton & Adrian D Werner & Robert Costanza & Steve H Mohr & Craig T Simmons, 2016. "Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, October.
    5. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Hickle, Garth T., 2014. "An examination of governance within extended producer responsibility policy regimes in North America," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 55-65.
    7. Giljum, Stefan & Burger, Eva & Hinterberger, Friedrich & Lutter, Stephan & Bruckner, Martin, 2011. "A comprehensive set of resource use indicators from the micro to the macro level," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 300-308.
    8. Kostas Bithas & Panos Kalimeris, 2017. "The Material Intensity of Growth: Implications from the Human Scale of Production," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 1011-1029, September.
    9. Jan Kovanda, 2021. "Economy‐wide material system analysis: Mapping material flows through the economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1121-1135, October.
    10. Behrens, Arno & Giljum, Stefan & Kovanda, Jan & Niza, Samuel, 2007. "The material basis of the global economy: Worldwide patterns of natural resource extraction and their implications for sustainable resource use policies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 444-453, December.
    11. Alonso-Fernández, Pablo & Regueiro-Ferreira, Rosa María, 2022. "Extractivism, ecologically unequal exchange and environmental impact in South America: A study using Material Flow Analysis (1990–2017)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    12. Kovanda, Jan, 2014. "Incorporation of recycling flows into economy-wide material flow accounting and analysis: A case study for the Czech Republic," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 78-84.
    13. Pablo Alonso-Fernández & Rosa María Regueiro-Ferreira, 2021. "An Approximation to the Environmental Impact of Economic Growth Using the Material Flow Analysis: Differences between Production and Consumption Methods, Applied to China, United Kingdom and USA (1990," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, May.

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