Sustainability

The Brundtland-Report has defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (WCED 1987, 43). The general call for sustainable development was made official at the UN conference on Environment and Development.

The concept of sustainable development, adopted by the world community in 1992, has broadened the frame for any policy effort. Sustainability requires an integration of economic, social and environmental policy. However, economy seems to be the main driver because economy forms the way humans organize most part of their life and hence their environmental and social performance. Thus, analyzing the mechanism of economic development may serve as a point of departure to identify more sustainable paths.

One problem that has received much scientific attention is the question of operationalizing the ecological dimension. In other words: how can we know whether a development is ecologically sustainable? In this context, the differences between North and South have to be taken into account.

One attempt to do so is the "environmental space" concept, which has been developed by Opschoor (1987) and has served as a conceptual basis for many international and national studies on sustainable development. Today, the material consumption in the industrialized parts of the world has reached a level which can be buffered by global eco-systems only because the majoritiy of the global population is still far below the use-level of the rich countries. Even if we cannot determine where the ecological limits to global economic growth are: the environmental space is limited.

While the environmental space concept is an operationalisation of the general call for sustainable development as formulated in the Brundtland-Report, approaches that rely on the matter-energy-throughput of the industrial metabolism are developed to make this concept more concrete. The concept of "eco-efficiency" and/or resource productivity stands at the core of the integration of socio-economic and environmental development. In a nutshell, it expresses to achieve more welfare with less use of nature, it is a strategic translation of the sustainability goals. The concept of "eco-efficiency" and/or resource productivity is also well known under the term Factor 4 and 10, i.e. a de-coupling by a a factor 4 in the mid-term and by factor 10 in the long term.

Dematerialisation, eco-efficiency and resource-productivity in international documents

• In its programme for the implementation for the Agenda 21 the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) considered: "promoting international and national programmes for energy and material efficiency with timetables for their implementation, as appropriate. In this regard, attention should be given to studies that propose to improve the efficiency of resource use, including consideration of a tenfold improvement in resource productivity in industrialised countries in long term and a possible Factor-Four increase in industrialised countries in the next two or three decades" (UNGASS 1997).
• The UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) stated: "With regard to the setting of environmental goals, the discussion on Factor 4 and 10 has added a new dimension to the ongoing debate by establishing targets for material and energy efficiency improvement to be achieved within set time-frames in developed countries" (UN CSD 1998).
• In its "Global Outlook" the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) mentioned: "Cleaner production leads to reductions of resource use and in amounts of waste and emissions generated. Achievable reduction of 50% to 75% are more and more the rule than the exception; reduction of 90 % are not longer uncommon either... The challenge is to achieve increase in efficiency and reductions in pollution and other forms of degradation by about one order of magnitude, as several prominent figures from different countries are advocating through the international Factor Ten Club they established in 1995" (UNEP 1997).
• The OECD Environmental Ministers have considered Factor 10: "Eco-efficiency is a related strategy which Ministers viewed as highly promising to enable industry, governments and households to decouple pollutant release and resource use from economic activity. Ministers noted the existence of studies which suggested that efficiency improvements of a Factor Ten were both necessary and achievable in the next thirty years ... OECD Environment Ministers have taken note of the Factor 10 Club - a group of leading individuals from academic, business and environmental circles - who argue that a political commitment to a tenfold increase in the average resource productivity in the industrialised countries is a prerequisite for achieving long-term sustainability. They suggest that the industrialised world works towards a 50% reduction in present global levels of non-renewable material flows (including minerals, freshwater, and non-renewable energy sources) over the next 30-50 years. International interest appears to be growing in the potential of "Factor 10" to provide challenging numerical targets against which progress can be monitored. In view of the complex economic, environmental, technological and policy considerations raised by both eco-efficiency and the Factor 10 concept, the OECD is further exploring these issues. The role of government in setting a policy framework which encourage high levels of eco-efficiency in the private sector will be a central focus, for a report to OECD Ministers in 1998" (OECD 1997).
• The Environment Ministers eventually accepted the goal in 1998 (OECD 1998). Dematerialisation, eco-efficiency and resource-productivity in national documents In Germany the Enquete Commission "Protection of Man and the Environment" of the German Bundestag identified the problem of unsustainable material flows in economy and society (DEUTSCHER BUNDESTAG 1997).
• Furthermore a target and timetable for material flow reduction was presented in the draft Environmental Agenda of the German government (BMU 1998). It was also considered by the German Environmental Agency (UBA 1997).
• The Austrian National Environmental Action Plan and the federal state government of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich) mentioned explicitly the Factor Ten goal (ÖSTERREICHISCHE BUNDESREGIERUNG 1996).
• The Ecocycle Commission of the Swedish government is also mentioning the goal Factor Ten reduction within the next 25-50 years in its outline of a material- and energy efficiency strategy (KRETSLOPPSDELEGATIONENS RAPPORT 1997).
• The Dutch environmental ministry is supporting the Factor Ten goal. Sectorial targets are presented in the Dutch national environmental action programme (NEPP 2).
• Furthermore it is part of the recycling targets of the British government.
• The U.S. National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) report "Bridge to a sustainable future" is supporting an increase of eco-efficiency (NSTC 1995).

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