This paper focuses on market incentives by the introduction of a construction minerals tax as an example of a resource tax. Currently, various European countries levy taxes or duties on primary construction materials, but a harmonisation of the taxation is not planned. Provided the tax rate has a perceptible price effect, the taxation of a resource can foster a demand management or the reduction of the raw material consumption and the governance of side and secondary effects. A construction minerals tax can target the stimulation of demand for secondary raw materials and recycled products, and - because the reuse of construction and demolition waste has technical limits - a stronger emphasis on the conservation of buildings and infrastructures. This has positive effects on the environment and the innovation efforts and it helps to internalise externalities. Germany, used as a case study in this paper, does not raise any taxes on other raw materials than energy sources at the federal level. For this reason, potential impacts of the introduction of a construction minerals tax will be explored and the results of a simulation will be provided.
Städte haben in dreierlei Hinsicht eine Verbindung zum Klimawandel. Als Verursacher sind sie für einen wesentlichen Anteil der anthropogen verursachten Treibhausgasemissionen verantwortlich. Gleichzeitig sind sie von den Folgen des Klimawandels, z. B. durch zunehmende Hitzebelastung, Starkregenereignisse und Überschwemmungen, besonders betroffen. Schließlich können Städte als Experimentierfeld für die Entwicklung und Umsetzung von Klimaschutzkonzepten, Technologien und Maßnahmen dienen. Sie sind damit Initiator für einen Transformationsprozess hin zu einer nachhaltigen und zukunftsfähigen Entwicklung.
Towards a resource policy : unleashing productivity dynamics and balancing international distortions
(2012)
The paper outlines guidelines and pillars of a resource policy. Two reasons favour the formulation of such policy: a demand to increase sluggish resource productivity growth as well as environmental damages occurring along material flows at an international scale. Thus, it is both the innovation and environmental perspective that legitimate policies. The paper surveys recent empirical trends. Referring to research on innovation and transition management, it develops guidelines for a resource policy, namely, market order, provision function, learning processes, market development, and orientation. It furthermore describes four instruments as potential pillars of a future policy mix: a tax on construction minerals, an ecologically differentiated VAT tax, and an international covenant for metals and an international convention for sustainable resource management. The paper finally reflects these guidelines and pillars against weaknesses and ongoing discussions of climate policy. It concludes that despite all uncertainties and complexities, a well-designed resource policy is on the verge of becoming essential for unleashing eco-innovation dynamics.
The exploitation of coltan in Central Africa can be considered a case of conflict minerals due to its nature. Many international organizations and bodies, national governments and private sector organizations seek to address this conflict, in particular via transparency, certification and accountability along the material supply chain. This paper analyses the international trade dimension of coltan and gives evidence on the dimension of illicit trade of coltan. The authors start from the hypothesis that illicit trade of coltan sooner or later will enter the market and will be reflected in the statistics. The paper is structured in the following manner: first, a short section gives a profile of coltan production and markets; second, an overview of the mining situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and related actors. The third section addresses mechanisms, actors and measurement issues involved in the international trade of coltan. The final part draws lessons for certification and conflict analysis and offers some guidance for future research.
The paper identifies two main possible gateways to trace illegal trade in coltan: the neighboring countries, especially Rwanda, and the importing countries for downstream production, in particular China. Our estimation is that the value of such illicit trade comes close to $ 27 million annually (2009), roughly one-fifth of the world market volume for tantalum production. With regard to any certification the paper concludes that this will become challenging for business and policy: (a) Central Africa currently is the largest supplier of coltan on the world market, many actors profit from the current situation and possess abilities to hide responsibility; (b) China will need to accept more responsibility, a first step would be the acceptance of the OECD guidelines on due diligence; (c) better regional governance in Central Africa comprises of resource taxation, a resource fund and fiscal coordination. An international task force may provide more robust data, however more research will also be needed.
This paper examines the effects of an increased integration of concentrated solar power (CSP) into the conventional electricity systems of Morocco and Algeria. A cost-minimizing linear optimization tool was used to calculate the best CSP plant configuration for Morocco's coal-dominated power system as well as for Algeria, where flexible gas-fired power plants prevail. The results demonstrate that in both North African countries, storage-based CSP plants offer significant economic advantages over non-storage, low-dispatchable CSP configurations. However, in a generalized renewable integration scenario, where CSP has to compete with other renewable generation technologies, like wind or photovoltaic (PV) power, it was found that the cost advantages of dispatchability only justify CSP investments when a relatively high renewable penetration is targeted in the electricity mix.
Consumption of natural resources should not exceed sustainable levels. The increasing use of biofuels and to some extent biomaterials, on top of rising food and feed demands, is causing countries to use a growing amount of global land, which may lead to land use conflicts and the expansion of cropland and intensive cultivation at the expense of natural ecosystems. Selective product certification cannot control the land use change triggered by growing overall biomass consumption. We propose a comprehensive approach to account for the global land use of countries for their domestic consumption, and assess this level with regard to globally acceptable levels of resource use, based on the concept of safe operating space. It is shown that the European Union currently uses one-third more cropland than globally available on a per capita basis and that with constant consumption levels it would exceed its fair share of acceptable resource use in 2030. As the use of global forests to meet renewable energy targets is becoming a concern, an approach to account for sustainable levels of timber flows is also proposed, based on the use of net annual increment, exemplified with preliminary data for Switzerland. Altogether, our approach would integrate the concept of sustainable consumption into national resource management plans; offering a conceptual basis and concrete reference values for informed policy making and urging countries to monitor and adjust their levels of resource consumption in a comprehensive way, respectful of the limits of sustainable supply.
In einigen Städten und Gemeinden in Deutschland sind in den letzten Jahren Klimaschutzkonzepte erstellt worden. Am Beispiel des vom Wuppertal Institut für die Stadt Köln erstellten Teilkonzeptes "Verkehr" sowie weiterer Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse im kommunalen Klimaschutz zeigt der Beitrag auf, welche Maßnahmen ergriffen werden sollten, um mittelfristig die verkehrsbedingten Emissionen in den Städten zu verringern.
The paper analyzes a Bolivian region for possible cultivation of the oil plant Jatropha curcas for sustainable biodiesel production in order to replace in part Bolivia's diesel imports. The specific site for this study is located in the dry region of Gran Chaco in Santa Cruz. The aim of this work is to analyse the potential of useable land and resources for sustainable biodiesel production from Jatropha without competition with edibles production using economic, environmental and social criteria. In addition the article introduces Jatropha as one of the preferred oil plants for biodiesel production in several countries and indicates its different uses. The recommendation to cultivate Jatropha for biodiesel production is based on an exploration of the possibility of land use in the selected region and the benefits Jatropha production could offer. In this manner a sustainable cultivation of Jatropha in the region of Gran Chaco is recommended to produce biodiesel and to improve some of the environmental problems facing the region.
Global trade is increasingly being challenged by observations of growing burden shifting, in particular of environmental problems. This paper presents the first worldwide calculations of shifted burden based on material flow indicators, in particular direct and indirect physical trade balances. This study covers the period between 1962 and 2005 and includes between 82 and 173 countries per year. The results show that indirect trade flow volumes have increased to around 41 billion tonnes in 2005. The traded resources with the highest share of associated indirect flows are iron, hard coal, copper, tin and increasingly palm oil. Regarding the burden balance between regions, Europe is the biggest shifter whereas Australia and Latin America are the largest takers of environmental burden due to resource extraction. To evaluate the findings from a global perspective, the results are analysed in terms of resource flow induced environmental pressure related to a country's land area in terms of total and per capita area. Resource endowment and population density seem to be more relevant in determining the physical trade balance, including indirect flows, than income level.