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The paper sketches out a theoretical framework for analysing the interplay between eco-efficiency... more The paper sketches out a theoretical framework for analysing the interplay between eco-efficiency, cognition and institutions. It derives from analytical shortfalls of the prevailing literature, which features strongly engineering and business economics, by using insights from New Institutional Economics, from Cognitive Science and, partly, from Evolutionary Economics. It emphasises the role cognition and institutions play in the adoption of ‘green’ technologies by firms. A cognitive perspective derives from recent research on simple heuristics and context-based rationality; it is proposed that those findings can serve to analyse decision-making of individual actors respectively firms and, thus, should complement economic analysis. A second proposition is that eco-efficiency and normative rules such as a Factor Four strongly rely upon institutions, i.e. the ability of institutions to evolve over time and the development of those institutions that are most appropriate to enhance tech...
European Environment, 2007
Approaches to address unsustainable ways of societal development constantly proliferate, but tota... more Approaches to address unsustainable ways of societal development constantly proliferate, but total consumption of resources and aggregate environmental impacts continue rising. This could partially be explained by weak attempts to develop comprehensive sustainability strategies that address the entire life cycle of products and especially resource extraction and use phases. This paper seeks to explore to what extent these life cycle stages and associated impacts are taken into account when various actors employ life cycle thinking and how these concerns can be better attended to in policy-making, business strategies and lifestyle choices. To accomplish this, we evaluate the efforts of the main stakeholders in reaching sustainable consumption and sustainable resource management, and impediments to further progress, and study whether and how deficits in these phases coincide and can potentially contribute to more holistic practical realization of life cycle thinking. We demonstrate that new approaches are needed to be able to tackle the international dimension of production and consumption. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Minerals & Energy - Raw Materials Report, 2008
International Economics and Economic Policy, 2010
there has been a long debate about the role of energy and economic growth as well as about the pr... more there has been a long debate about the role of energy and economic growth as well as about the pricing of non-renewables. Both exploration of (non-renewable) natural resources and their use can generate negative national and international external effects and at the same time, the positive external effects of innovation projects may also be considered in the field of resource-saving technological progress; while process innovations, product innovations and setting ambitious standards could be major elements of green innovativeness and sustainability provided that governments and international organizations set the incentives right. However, this broader sustainability perspective has not been taken. As indicated by the current prevailing approach to controlling CO 2 emissions in the international political system, little attention is paid to global green innovation dynamics despite the fact that international positive external effects are crucial here.
This BEER addresses informational barriers to energy efficiency. It is a widely acknowledged resu... more This BEER addresses informational barriers to energy efficiency. It is a widely acknowledged result that an energy efficiency gap exists implying that the level of energy efficiency is at an inefficiently low level. Several barriers to energy efficiency create this gap and the presence of asymmetric information is likely to be one such barrier. In this article a theoretical framework is presented addressing the issues of moral hazard and adverse selection related to energy efficiency. Based on the theoretical framework, European policies on energy efficiency are evaluated.
* This BEER paper is a revised version of the corresponding author's master&... more * This BEER paper is a revised version of the corresponding author's master's thesis delivered at the College of Europe in 2009. The thesis was awarded the Alcoa Prize for the best thesis related to sustainable development written at the College of Europe in 2009. The authors ...
While strategic studies on natural resources usually focus on the criticality of certain single m... more While strategic studies on natural resources usually focus on the criticality of certain single materials, our paper starts from the inter-linkages between and among resources (called "the resource nexus"). It examines the impact any food and water stress may have on extraction activities in fragile states and regions. According to our approach, conflicts are likely to increase and may escalate in a number of countries, many of which are of relevance for the global supply of strategic materials. Future criticality for European and other industries, thus, is more likely to result from particular regions surpassing their adaptive capacities, and not mainly from limited availability or bottlenecks in the supply chain. The paper first develops a heuristic model of drivers for stress in resource-rich regions. Applying this approach, our paper then develops a global three-layered map along the dimensions of (i) future regional food and water stress, (ii) fragility of countries, and (iii) resource-rich countries with relevant reserves of strategic materials. As a result our paper tentatively identifies 15 countries at high risk and some 30 other countries being at relevant risk of causing resource supply disruptions. The conclusions underline the need to analyse those global inter-linkages and institutional mechanisms for strategic futures studies at a regional scale. As this may go beyond the capacities of actors on commodity markets, our paper also draws conclusions towards the establishment of an international data hub on the global resource nexus and for futures research. The paper points to some of the long-term implications of these issues.
The paper sketches out a theoretical framework for analysing the interplay between eco-efficiency... more The paper sketches out a theoretical framework for analysing the interplay between eco-efficiency, cognition and institutions. It derives from analytical shortfalls of the prevailing literature, which features strongly engineering and business economics, by using insights from New Institutional Economics, from Cognitive Science and, partly, from Evolutionary Economics. It emphasises the role cognition and institutions play in the adoption of ‘green’ technologies by firms. A cognitive perspective derives from recent research on simple heuristics and context-based rationality; it is proposed that those findings can serve to analyse decision-making of individual actors respectively firms and, thus, should complement economic analysis. A second proposition is that eco-efficiency and normative rules such as a Factor Four strongly rely upon institutions, i.e. the ability of institutions to evolve over time and the development of those institutions that are most appropriate to enhance tech...
European Environment, 2007
Approaches to address unsustainable ways of societal development constantly proliferate, but tota... more Approaches to address unsustainable ways of societal development constantly proliferate, but total consumption of resources and aggregate environmental impacts continue rising. This could partially be explained by weak attempts to develop comprehensive sustainability strategies that address the entire life cycle of products and especially resource extraction and use phases. This paper seeks to explore to what extent these life cycle stages and associated impacts are taken into account when various actors employ life cycle thinking and how these concerns can be better attended to in policy-making, business strategies and lifestyle choices. To accomplish this, we evaluate the efforts of the main stakeholders in reaching sustainable consumption and sustainable resource management, and impediments to further progress, and study whether and how deficits in these phases coincide and can potentially contribute to more holistic practical realization of life cycle thinking. We demonstrate that new approaches are needed to be able to tackle the international dimension of production and consumption. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Minerals & Energy - Raw Materials Report, 2008
International Economics and Economic Policy, 2010
there has been a long debate about the role of energy and economic growth as well as about the pr... more there has been a long debate about the role of energy and economic growth as well as about the pricing of non-renewables. Both exploration of (non-renewable) natural resources and their use can generate negative national and international external effects and at the same time, the positive external effects of innovation projects may also be considered in the field of resource-saving technological progress; while process innovations, product innovations and setting ambitious standards could be major elements of green innovativeness and sustainability provided that governments and international organizations set the incentives right. However, this broader sustainability perspective has not been taken. As indicated by the current prevailing approach to controlling CO 2 emissions in the international political system, little attention is paid to global green innovation dynamics despite the fact that international positive external effects are crucial here.
This BEER addresses informational barriers to energy efficiency. It is a widely acknowledged resu... more This BEER addresses informational barriers to energy efficiency. It is a widely acknowledged result that an energy efficiency gap exists implying that the level of energy efficiency is at an inefficiently low level. Several barriers to energy efficiency create this gap and the presence of asymmetric information is likely to be one such barrier. In this article a theoretical framework is presented addressing the issues of moral hazard and adverse selection related to energy efficiency. Based on the theoretical framework, European policies on energy efficiency are evaluated.
* This BEER paper is a revised version of the corresponding author's master&... more * This BEER paper is a revised version of the corresponding author's master's thesis delivered at the College of Europe in 2009. The thesis was awarded the Alcoa Prize for the best thesis related to sustainable development written at the College of Europe in 2009. The authors ...
While strategic studies on natural resources usually focus on the criticality of certain single m... more While strategic studies on natural resources usually focus on the criticality of certain single materials, our paper starts from the inter-linkages between and among resources (called "the resource nexus"). It examines the impact any food and water stress may have on extraction activities in fragile states and regions. According to our approach, conflicts are likely to increase and may escalate in a number of countries, many of which are of relevance for the global supply of strategic materials. Future criticality for European and other industries, thus, is more likely to result from particular regions surpassing their adaptive capacities, and not mainly from limited availability or bottlenecks in the supply chain. The paper first develops a heuristic model of drivers for stress in resource-rich regions. Applying this approach, our paper then develops a global three-layered map along the dimensions of (i) future regional food and water stress, (ii) fragility of countries, and (iii) resource-rich countries with relevant reserves of strategic materials. As a result our paper tentatively identifies 15 countries at high risk and some 30 other countries being at relevant risk of causing resource supply disruptions. The conclusions underline the need to analyse those global inter-linkages and institutional mechanisms for strategic futures studies at a regional scale. As this may go beyond the capacities of actors on commodity markets, our paper also draws conclusions towards the establishment of an international data hub on the global resource nexus and for futures research. The paper points to some of the long-term implications of these issues.