A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I : bibliometric and conceptual mapping
Wiedenhofer, Dominik (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. Institute of Social Ecology (Austria))
Virág, Doris (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)
Kalt, Gerald (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)
Plank, Barbara (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)
Streeck, Jan (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)
Pichler, Melanie (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)
Mayer, Andreas (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)
Krausmann, Fridolin (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)
Brockway, Paul (University of Leeds. School of Earth and Environment)
Schaffartzik, Anke (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Fishman, Tomer (Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya)
Hausknost, Daniel (Vienna University of Economics and Business. Institute for Social Change and Sustainability)
Leon-Gruchalski, Bartholomaüs (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Safety and Risk Sciences)
Sousa, Tânia (Universidade de Lisboa. Instituto Superior Técnico)
Creutzig, Felix (Mercator Institute for the Global Commons (Germany))
Haberl, Helmut (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Viena). Institute of Social Ecology)

Data:	2020
Resum:	As long as economic growth is a major political goal, decoupling growth from resource use and emissions is a prerequisite for a sustainable net-zero emissions future. However, empirical evidence for absolute decoupling, i. e. decreasing resource use and emissions at the required scale despite continued economic growth, is scarce and scattered across different research streams. In this two-part systematic review, we assess how and to what extent decoupling has been observed and what can be learnt for addressing the sustainability and climate crisis. Based on a transparent approach, we systematically identify and screen more than 11 500 scientific papers, eventually analyzing full texts of 835 empirical studies on the relationship between economic growth (GDP), resource use (materials and energy) and greenhouse gas emissions. Part I of the review examines how decoupling has been investigated across three research streams: Energy, materials and energy, and emissions. Part II synthesizes the empirical evidence and policy implications (Haberl et al 2020 Environ. Res. Lett. 15 065003). In part I, we examine the topical, temporal and geographical scopes, methods of analysis, institutional networks and prevalent conceptual angles. We find that in this rapidly growing literature, the vast majority of studies-decomposition, 'causality' and Environmental Kuznets Curve analysis- A pproach the topic from a statistical-econometric point of view, while hardly acknowledging thermodynamic principles on the role of energy and materials for socio-economic activities. A potentially fundamental incompatibility between economic growth and systemic societal changes to address the climate crisis is rarely considered. We conclude that the existing wealth of empirical evidence merits braver conceptual advances than we have seen thus far. Future work should focus on comprehensive multi-indicator long-term analyses, conceptually grounded on the fundamental biophysical basis of socio-economic activities, incorporating the role of global supply chains as well as the wider societal role and preconditions of economic growth.
Ajuts:	European Commission 741950 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552
Nota:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article de revisió ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Decarbonization ; Decoupling ; Degrowth ; Dematerialization ; Environmental Kuznets Curve ; Green growth ; Socio-economic metabolism
Publicat a:	Environmental research letters, Vol. 15, number 6 (June 2020) , art. 63002, ISSN 1748-9326

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab8429

16 p, 2.1 MB

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