Refine
Year of Publication
- 2024 (3)
- 2023 (7)
- 2022 (12)
- 2021 (11)
- 2020 (19)
- 2019 (23)
- 2018 (21)
- 2017 (41)
- 2016 (42)
- 2015 (24)
- 2014 (30)
- 2013 (38)
- 2012 (32)
- 2011 (32)
- 2010 (24)
- 2009 (19)
- 2008 (51)
- 2007 (63)
- 2006 (23)
- 2005 (41)
- 2004 (31)
- 2003 (24)
- 2002 (16)
- 2001 (20)
- 2000 (13)
- 1999 (19)
- 1998 (15)
- 1997 (20)
- 1996 (14)
- 1995 (7)
- 1994 (20)
- 1993 (10)
- 1992 (8)
- 1991 (2)
Document Type
- Part of a Book (250)
- Contribution to Periodical (247)
- Working Paper (68)
- Peer-Reviewed Article (66)
- Report (58)
- Book (56)
- Conference Object (21)
- Doctoral Thesis (7)
- Lecture (2)
Language
Division
- Präsidialbereich (775) (remove)
Gipfelstürmer im Umweltraum
(2007)
Oil crisis, water conflicts, declining food security - we hear one report after another about resource scarcity - while with growing populations and huge poverty, nations are demanding their right to development. In the age of globalisation this right cannot be disputed, yet the planet is already exhibiting signs of acute environmental stress. Indians want more roads and Chinese more oil: the struggle over nature will partly shape the crises of the twenty-first century. Clashes over resources, both major and minor, are often the unseen factor behind chaos and violence and it is vital to start thinking about how the distribution of resources can be made more just. This book provides an account of what is involved in the resource conflicts of today and tomorrow. It puts forward perspectives for resource justice and outlines a global economic and environmental policy equally committed to nature and to humanity.
The United Nations climate change conference in Nairobi came at the end of a year where public awareness of climate change had reached unprecedented heights. Nonetheless, the conference proceeded with its usual diplomatic ritual, apparently unaffected by time pressure. While it did see some progress on important issues for developing countries such as the Adaptation Fund, the Nairobi Work Programme on Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation to Climate Change, and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), on questions regarding the future of the regime it proved to be at best a confidence-building session that served to hear further views. More serious work on the future of the regime must therefore be expected of the next Conferences of the Parties.
This article by Wolfgang Sterk, Hermann E. Ott, Rie Watanabe and Bettina Wittneben summarises the results of the conference.
The "South-North Dialogue" Proposal, developed by researchers from developing and industrialised countries, outlined equitable approaches to mitigation. These approaches were based on the criteria of responsibility, capability and potential to mitigate, and include deep cuts in industrialised (Annex I) countries and differentiated mitigation commitments for developing countries. This paper quantitatively analyses the implications of the proposal for countries' emissions and costs. The analysis focuses on a "political willingness" scenario and four stabilisation scenarios. The analysis shows that stringent stabilisation targets imply that many developing countries would have to take on quantitative mitigation obligations by 2030, even when the Annex I countries take on ambitious mitigation commitments far beyond the Kyoto obligations. The "political willingness scenario" will probably not suffice to limit a warming of the Earth's atmosphere to below 2 °C.
National welfare is no longer an effective frame of reference for enlightened foreign policy. Policy consideration must encompass the common welfare of a world society. Environmental and resource crises are inextricably tied to security and justice. Sixty years after the founding of the United Nations there should be a new effort to establish a genuinely sustainable global order - a "San Francisco 2.0".
Stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere at levels compatible with sustainable development is the objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and an imperative for the global community. This is a daunting task, and its magnitude and costs are debated among scientists as well as policy-makers [Stern, 2006]. While most GHGs in the past have been emitted by developed countries and they are called upon to reduce their emissions and take responsibility for past mistakes, the contribution of developing countries in the future will reach similar magnitudes and is equally threatening for life on this planet. While developing countries have no commitments under the UNFCCC, they can still contribute voluntarily to climate change mitigation. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), as the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC and the leading multilateral entity promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in developing countries and countries in transition, needs to provide significant support to these countries with respect to reaching a path of sustainable energy supply and sustainable economic and social development. Since 1992, the GEF has provided around US$ 2 billion in grants to support projects in the climate change focal area, leveraging over US$ 10 billion in total investments. Most of these funds have been spent on climate change mitigation projects. The GEF's mandate with respect to mitigation is to develop, expand, and transform markets for energy and mobility in developing countries, enabling them to grow toward and efficiently operate on a less carbon-intensive path. In doing so, the GEF applies the incremental cost principle and is restricted in the selection of technologies by a number of factors. Developing markets for sustainable energy technologies and sustainable framework conditions is a long-term effort, and it is hard to understand how effective the GEF is or can be in fulfilling this mission. This paper discusses the magnitude of the challenge, and demonstrates that this challenge is too big for the GEF's limited funds, and provides some suggestions for the GEF's programming for maximizing its impact on global GHG emissions by seeking out the most rewarding opportunities and maximizing replication of successful project examples by effective outreach and knowledge management.
Per un futuro equo : conflitti sulle risorse e giustizia globale ; un report del Wuppertal Institut
(2007)
Atomstreit mit dem Iran, Unruhen in Nigeria, Hurrikans in den USA: immer neue Krisen treiben den Ölpreis in die Höhe. Und wir hängen am immer teurer werdenden Tropf, ob Industriebetrieb oder Verbraucher. Öl, unser wichtigster Energieträger, heizt nicht nur das Klima auf, sondern entpuppt sich zunehmend als Krisenfaktor für die Welt.
Mit der stetig wachsenden Verletzlichkeit unserer Energiesysteme reift die Erkenntnis, welche grundlegenden strukturellen Faktoren die Energiesicherheit bestimmen. Wie können wir unsere Abhängigkeit von Energieimporten verringern, den Klimaschutz verbessern und globale sozioökonomische Schieflagen entschärfen?
Eine Vielzahl von Vorschlägen ist in diesem Buch zusammengestellt: internationale Energiekooperationen "auf Augenhöhe", Steigerung der Energieeffizienz, Solarstromtransport aus Nordafrika, geopolitische Strategien oder diplomatisches Engagement in China, ... Wer sich für die ökologische, wirtschaftliche und soziale Zukunft unseres Planeten interessiert, kommt am Öl nicht vorbei - und sollte dieses Buch lesen.
Radikale Benzinpreiserhöhungen an der Tankstelle, steigende Heizölkosten sowie deutliche Verteuerungen der Strom- und Gasrechnungen sind an der Tagesordnung. Die Endlichkeit der Energiereserven und der drohende Klimawandel stehen als Top-Themen mehr denn je im Fokus des öffentlichen Interesses. Verheerende Naturkatastrophen verursachen jährlich volkswirtschaftliche Schäden in dreistelliger Milliardenhöhe. Bald werden deshalb Umwelt- und Effizienztechnologien zu den größten Wachstumsmärkten der Welt zählen. Umso erstaunlicher, dass viele innovative Leistungen, Produkte und Ideen nach wie vor den kreativen Köpfen kleiner unabhängiger Projektteams oder Einzelpersonen entspringen. Diese autonomen Erfinder gewinnen immer mehr an Bedeutung, da sie einen bemerkenswerten Beitrag zur ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Entwicklung leisten können. Das Buch stellt acht Preisträger des Wuppertaler Energie- und Umweltpreises mit ihren Erfindungen vor, die erheblich zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz und Ressourcenproduktivität beitragen: Innovative Meisterleistungen mit so vielversprechenden Namen wie "Lion Powerblock", Energie-Trichter oder "Sonnenschiff".
At the time of the Rio Conference, it had already become clear that climate change is far from being just an ecological issue; it is also an issue of equity. In particular, climate change was identified as an issue of intergenerational equity. It became ominously clear to observers that global warming, since it modifies important parameters of the ecology of the planet, such as sea levels or weather patterns, will affect the relations between present and future generations. Today's generation, by filling up the absorptive capacity of the atmosphere, lives at the expense of tomorrow's generation. At the same time, it came to the fore that the use of fossil fuels not only affects inter-generational equity, but also intra-generational equity, i.e., the relations between nations and social groups within a generation. Who will be allowed to reap the benefits from fossil fuel combustion? Who will have to carry the burden of emission abatement? Equity within a generation has at least two dimensions (Wuppertal Institute, 2005). First, it implies the fair distribution of burdens and benefits of fossil fuel use among nations. Secondly, however, it also implies the universal protection of human dignity by securing the fundamental rights of every human person to water, food, housing, and health. The article will focus on the latter dimension; it will explore the links between human rights and climate change, without, however, losing sight of the broader framework of equity in climate politics.
Der Verkehrssektor ist keineswegs der einzige, jedoch ein wesentlicher Verursacher der Klimaprobleme. Der Automobilverkehr als traditioneller Hauptbelaster im Verkehrsbereich zeigt zwar vergleichsweise positive Tendenzen, trotzdem ist auch hier noch erheblicher weiterer Handlungsbedarf gegeben. Das Wuppertal Institut hat hier in übersichtlicher und systematischer Form Stand und Perspektiven zusammengetragen. Nach einer ausführlichen Einbettung in den Klimadiskurs erfolgt die schrittweise Konzentration auf den PKW-Verkehr Deutschlands. Für diesen Bereich werden im Detail die denkbaren technischen Ansätze und die möglichen Umsetzungsmaßnahmen erörtert.
In 2005 two very important milestones of international climate policy were reached: The entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and the installation of a European wide emissions trading system. In Germany, the publication of the fifth report of the inter-ministerial working group on climate policy was published with an evaluation of climate protection policies. In 2004 the Japanese climate protection policy was fully revised so that Japan will also bring forth important developments in this area. The traditional close cooperation in this area between Japan and Germany, must now result in more concrete projects to keep this dynamic going well into the future. There is much potential to achieve a lot.
Within the unique framework of the Germany in Japan Year 2005-2006, the German Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for Innovation of Northrhine-Westfalia, together with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Japan) and the Wuppertal Institute (Germany) put together a two day event in Tokyo comprising an experts workshop and a one day conference.
At the conference, experts and practitioners of the German government, the states, the private sector and environmental organisations from Germany and Europe presented the decisive factors for success as well as the difficulties encountered namely in introducing an eco-tax and the Emissions Trading Scheme. Japanese experts and practitioners reported on Japanese approaches and reviewed the German/European experiences in light of the Japanese situation. At the expert workshop, researchers and decision makers discussed the experiences with policy dialogues and stakeholder involvement. They assessed the transferability of German/European experiences into the Japanese context and the broader inclusion of civil society into the governmental decision making process, that is so say, the opportunities in co-operating with politics, private sector and environmental organisations. This report documents the events and highlights the most outstanding conclusions and ideas for further cooperation in the future.
The role of hydrogen in long run sustainable energy scenarios for the world and for the case of Germany is analysed, based on key criteria for sustainable energy systems. The possible range of hydrogen within long-term energy scenarios is broad and uncertain depending on assumptions on used primary energy, technology mix, rate of energy efficiency increase and costs degression ("learning effects"). In any case, sustainable energy strategies must give energy efficiency highest priority combined with an accelerated market introduction of renewables ("integrated strategy"). Under these conditions hydrogen will play a major role not before 2030 using natural gas as a bridge to renewable hydrogen. Against the background of an ambitious CO2-reduction goal which is under discussion in Germany the potentials for efficiency increase, the necessary structural change of the power plant system (corresponding to the decision to phase out nuclear energy, the transformation of the transportation sector and the market implementation order of renewable energies ("following efficiency guidelines first for electricity generation purposes, than for heat generation and than for the transportation sector")) are analysed based on latest sustainable energy scenarios.
Was wird dann aus der Wirtschaft? : Über Suffizienz, Wirtschaftswachstum und Arbeitslosigkeit
(2006)
In einer Situation, in der das Wirtschaftswachstum als eine der wichtigsten Aufgaben dieser Gesellschaft gilt und als eines der entscheidenden Mittel zur Minderung der Arbeitslosigkeit angesehen wird, gerät Suffizienz, die sich für eine maßvolle Nutzung der Ressourcen und ein anderes Verständnis von Wohlstand einsetzt, leicht in den Ruf ökonomischer und sozialer Unverträglichkeit. Dieser Verdacht ist unberechtigt. Einmal ist in entwickelten Industriegesellschaften nur noch mit einem bescheidenen Wirtschaftswachstum zu rechnen, das kaum neue Arbeit schaffen wird. Dann wird zu zeigen sein, dass ein an Suffizienz orientiertes Wirtschaften nicht nur Ressourcen schont sondern auch neue Erwerbsarbeit ermöglicht. Hohe Arbeitslosigkeit lässt sich darüber hinaus auch durch kluge Sozial- und Arbeitsmarktpolitik vermindern. Zu überwinden ist sie nur, wenn die Erwerbsarbeit geteilt wird.
Limits
(2005)
Poverty
(2005)
Elend im Überfluss
(2005)
Postfazione
(2005)
Ecologia e diritti umani
(2005)
Within one decade a fundamental choice will have to be made: Should the energy system follow the historical trends of risky and unsustainable energy use patterns? Or should it take the course towards sustainable development and climate protection, giving top priority to energy efficiency and to a broad mix of renewable energies? Both roads are technically feasible. "Back-casting"-scenarios could help to answer the question, what technological options are available for climate protection and how societal goals can be achieved in a cost-effective way. Lessons learned from world energy scenarios and possible implementation options will be discussed. A case study of the German Parliament ́s Enquete Commission on Sustainable Energy Systems will be taken as illustration. The analysis shows that sustainable energy systems can be financed and that economic growth can be decoupled from absolute levels of non-renewable energy consumption by stepping up energy productivity.
Additional binding reduction targets for greenhouse gases are necessary and they must also apply to important developing and transition countries. So far, these countries have been treated as a uniform group. In future, different rules will have to be used according to varying capabilities and different exposures to risk. A team of 14 researchers from
rich and poor countries puts forward proposals on how to proceed.
Global climate
(2005)
The first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP 1) took place from 28 November to 10 December 2005 in Montreal, in conjunction with the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 11). This meeting signifies a successful start into a new era of international climate policy: The Kyoto Protocol, which in the past had been sometimes declared as being dead, has become operational.
The challenges of the meeting were framed along the "Three Is", Implementation, Improvement and Innovation. The first challenge (Implementation) entailed in particular the adoption of the Marrakesh Accords, the agreements reached at COP 7 in Marrakesh that set out the detailed rules for making the Kyoto Protocol operational. The second challenge (Improvement) referred to improving the work of the Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol in the near future. The third and most important challenge (Innovation) referred to the further evolution of the regime.
This article by Bettina Wittneben, Wolfgang Sterk, Hermann E. Ott und Bernd Brouns provides an account of the main developments in Montreal along the lines of the "Three Is". The paper concludes with an assessment and outlook on international climate policy.
Scenarios for the transition to a sustainable and climate protecting energy system in Germany
(2004)
Au royaume des aveugles ...
(2004)
Armuts-Ökologie
(2004)
This book presents important new research on applied eco-efficiency concepts throughout Europe. The aim of eco-efficiency is to achieve market-based measures of environmental protection, in order to enhance the prospects for sustainable development and achieve positive economic and ecological benefits. The distinguished authors discuss a number of themes surrounding eco-efficiency including the necessary conditions for technological dissemination and ecological modernization, and the role of government in enabling businesses and society to participate actively in this process. In particular, they highlight the application of existing European-based policies concerning material flows and energy. The authors also investigate some new concepts of sustainable development and provide a useful introduction to material flows analysis. In further chapters they study the emerging regulatory policies for eco-efficiency, and examine the issues of sustainable business and consumption strategies.
Environment and human rights
(2004)
Wolfgang Sachs argues for environmental human rights as a fundamental prerequisite to end the violence of development. He outlines the numerous conflicts over natural resources in the struggle for livelihoods and argues for a transition to sustainability in the more affluent economies, in both the North and South, as a necessary condition for the safeguarding of the subsistence rights of those whose livelihood depends on direct access to nature.
What kind of innovations are we talking about? : The Wuppertal Institute s new research structure
(2004)
In February 2000, the German Bundestag established a Study Commission on "Sustainable Energy Supplies in View of Globalisation and Liberalisation" (cf. Final Report, 2002). The Commission's Final Report is a contribution made by Germany toward implementing the sustainable development objectives defined in 1992 at the World Summit in Rio de Janeiro (Agenda 21). Despite minority votes of several members of the Study Commission, the main outcomes of the Final Report are worthwhile discussing in other industrial countries. The Commission had been given the mandate to identify "robust, sustainable development paths" for the energy sector for the period up to 2050, which represent a scientific basis for the German parliament's further decision-making in the field of long-term energy policy. The applied backcasting approach showed that an ambitious climate-protection goal - reducing CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 - is technically and economically feasible. The main strategies and instruments for protecting the climate while ensuring asustainable energy supply are summarised.
Global climate
(2004)
The paper explores a framework for analysing governance towards sustainable development. Departing from the thesis about a possible positive role for corporate action, it refers to recent theorizing about both market and government failures. Discussing externalities, public goods, information and adaptation deficits, as well as bureaucracies' self-interest, corruption and capture of the regulator, the paper stresses the importance of governance aiming at synergies between corporate and political governance. Concerning framework conditions, it outlines principles of regulated self-regulation. Following the thesis about a positive role, the paper adds recent insights about theories of the knowledge-based firm, which help to analyse market evolution. In this context, it outlines the concept of "responsible corporate governance". Because governance involves actors in their daily operations and certainly goes beyond setting a frame, the paper finally discusses innovation-inducing regulation, serving complementary functions to a framework and business operations. The conclusion is drawn that governments' main function is to facilitate learning processes, thus departing from states' function as known from welfare economics. Thus, governance will have to be explored as collective learning, involving business, governments, and civil societies’ actors.
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 technological change. In this regard, business institutions and competition are crucial, but regulatory needs remain in order to safeguard continuity of knowledge creation. The framework allows for an analysis why overall adoption of eco-efficiency still can be considered relatively slow and why some markets and firms are far ahead. As a brief case study the article reflects upon German waste law's ability to enhance eco-efficiency.
Forschende Ungeduld
(2003)
Ideen von heute prägen die Welt von morgen. Um diese Zukunft verantwortungsvoll zu gestalten, müssen technische Innovationen ökonomische, ökologische und soziale Aspekte in Einklang bringen. Die hier dokumentierten fünfzehn Arbeiten zeigen auf anschauliche und praxisnahe Weise, wie Umweltschutz, Wirtschaftlichkeit und soziale Verantwortung effizient miteinander verbunden werden können. Durch den alle zwei Jahre vom Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie ausgelobten Ideenwettbewerb sollen vor allem junge Forscher, Entwickler und Innovatoren gefördert und motiviert werden. Dieses Buch dokumentiert ausführlich alle preisgekrönten und belobigten Projekte des Wuppertaler Energie- und Umweltpreises 2002.
Ressourcen
(2003)
Warten auf Nachhaltigkeit
(2003)
Jenseits der Grenzen des Wachstums : begründen "Naturschranken" einen "Vorrang für die Ökologie"?
(2002)
Ökoeffiziente Tertiarisierung : konzeptionelle Überlegungen und Schritte zu ihrer Realisierung
(2002)
The article analyses Japanese approaches to dealing with eco-efficiency from an institutional perspective. Our main outlook is that though promising attempts have been made despite the overall economic crisis, a better horizontal coordination among both administrations and businesses is required. The governance processes can be analysed following approaches developed by New Institutional Economics and related policy analysis. The paper is divided into three sections. The first introduces the concept of eco-efficiency and explains the demand for regulatory policies from theories of market failures; the paper argues in favour of innovationoriented regulation. The second examines how a nation's institutional capabilities influence knowledge generation towards new solutions that sell on the markets; the "capacity-building approach" as developed by Martin Jänicke is explicitly discussed. The third section discusses contemporary Japanese policies with regard to waste, energy and material flows both on the governmental and the business level. It explains how European approaches diffuse and merge with domestic Japanese institutions. However, governance of eco-efficiency is expected to continue to differ due to ongoing national differences and specific conditions of knowledge creation.
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 Sciences 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 recent findings can serve to analyse decision-making of individual actors or 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 technological change. In this regard, business institutions and competition are crucial, but regulatory needs remain in order to safeguard continuity of knowledge creation. The framework allows for an analysis why overall adoption of eco-efficiency still can be considered relatively slow and why some markets and firms are far ahead. As a brief case study the article reflects upon German waste law’s ability to enhance eco-efficiency.
Von Rio bis Den Haag
(2001)
During the UNCED conference in Rio de Janeiro 1992 unsustainable consumption and production patterns were identified as one of the key driving forces behind the unsustainable development of the world (Agenda 21, chapter 4). These consumption and production patterns are based on the European model of industrialisation, spread around the globe in the age of colonisation and brought to extremes by the upper-class of industrialised societies, in particular in the United States, but also in a number of countries in the South. Therefore, all states of the world share the task of developing sustainable consumption and production patterns, while particular responsibility rests with the industrialised nations of Europe, North America and Japan. They, and the thriving but small rich elite in the transition countries and in the South, form a global consumer society, with shared products, lifestyles and aspirations. As it is essential to support the transition towards sustainable development by providing the proper information in an operational manner, the UNCED conference has called for the development of suitable means of information, and in particular for the development of sustainability indicators applicable throughout the world (Agenda 21, chapter 40). The UNDESA set of indicators for changing consumption and production patterns offers helpful advice in this regard but still lacks the theoretical underpinning needed to consistently complete it by defining the few still missing indicators. This paper undertakes to suggest such a methodology based on the environmental space concept. It derives a set of science based indicators from this approach which are easily applicable in everyday life and analyses the environmental relevance of the consumption clusters chosen for analysis as well as the relevance of the phenomena characterised by the indicators suggested. As households are just one actor in the field of consumption, a qualitative assessment of influences is performed and the result depicting the key actors for each environmentally relevant consumption cluster is presented as an actor matrix.
Das Zauberwort der Ökoeffizienz hat längst die Chefetagen der Wirtschaft erreicht und immer mehr Unternehmen sehen in der Aufgabe, aktiven Klimaschutz zu betreiben, eine Chance für neue Geschäftsfelder. Mit der Ausschreibung des Wuppertaler Energie- und Umweltpreises suchte das Wuppertal Institut umsetzbare Ideen aus dem Umwelt- und Energiebereich, die den Ressourcen- und Energieverbrauch deutlich reduzieren und so maßgeblich zur Verbesserung der Ökoeffizienz beitragen. Dieses Buch von Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker und Peter Hennicke (Herausgeber) stellt zwanzig Projekte vor, die von der Jury des Wettbewerbs prämiert oder belobigt wurden.
Umweltethik, politisch
(2001)
The contribution of natural resources and ecosystems to economic processes still remains under-assessed by market evaluation and productivity analysis. Following the historical lines of the classical productivity debate ranging from the French Physiocrats to early neoclassical growth theories, the productivity concept underwent a gradual transformation from its previous understanding based on natural resources and other environmental factors to its contemporary narrow notion. This paper claims that the course of the classical debate has shaped the scope of predominant contemporary analysis. Except for some very recent findings, multifactor productivity largely focusses on a two-factor model. Material Flow Analysis (MFA) provides a useful step for widening the measurement and notion of productivity.
Gemeinsames Umweltmanagement in Unternehmensnetzwerken : das Beispiel der Eco-Industrial Parks
(2000)
Der Beitrag erörtert Möglichkeiten und Grenzen eines gemeinsamen Umweltmanagement in Unternehmensnetzwerken am Beispiel von ökologisch ausgerichtete Industrieansiedlungen ("Eco-Industrial Parks"). Der erste Teil untersucht Netzwerke als marktnahe Institutionen. Es wird dargestellt, dass vertikale und horizontale Netzwerkformen die Produktions-, Entsorgungs- und Transaktionskosten von Unternehmen absenken können. Technologische sowie kognitiv-institutionelle Pfadabhängigkeiten können diesen Vorteil begrenzen. Im Umweltmanagement können über Netzwerke Kosten abgesenkt sowie Innovationen angestoßen werden. Im zweiten Teil werden Eco-Industrial Parks analysiert. Als Fallbeispiele werden Kalundborg, Fairfield, Burnside, Brownsville und Kitakyushu betrachtet. Der Beitrag kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die Startphase der Parks Anlass zu vorsichtigem Optimismus gibt. Augenmerk sollten der Ausgestaltung institutioneller Kooperationsformen für eine kontinuierliche Umweltentlastung sowie Prüfverfahren gelten.
Vorbeugen durch umweltpolitische Maßnahmen : Institutionen und Konzepte der Umweltpolitik im Wandel
(2000)
Ökoeffizienz ist die Grundlage eines zukunftsfähigen Managements, dessen Ziel es ist, Ökonomie und Ökologie zu vereinen. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker und Jan-Dirk Seiler-Hausmann zeigen, daß diese Kombination den Unternehmen in Zukunft sogar mehr Gewinn bringen kann als herkömmliche Unternehmensführung.
Ökologische Steuerreform
(1998)
Big-Foot im Gemüsebeet : die ökologischen Fußabdrücke Europas sind mehr als eine Nummer zu groß
(1998)
Ende der Arbeitsproduktivität? : Von der Produktivität der Arbeit zur Produktivität der Ressourcen
(1998)
While sustainability is in danger of being reduced to a meaningless platitude, the brutal fact remains that industrial countries make a disproportionately large and negative impact on the environment. A serious transition to sustainability will require changing people's mindsets and social institutions, in addition to public policies, technologies and business practices.
This book presents a path-breaking analysis as well as highly innovative proposals for managing this transition. Emanating from Europe's foremost environmental policy think-tank, it has already stirred up a major new debate in Germany on radical, but feasible, directions in which the governments of industrial societies ought to be moving. The concept of "environmental space" and its ingenious development of indicators for measuring an economy's national and global impact combine with its delineation of concrete policies to give this book its intellectual power and potential political impact.
Zukunft der Arbeit
(1997)
Germany
(1997)
Grenzen der Globalisierung
(1996)
Das beste Instrument : ökologische Steuerreform ; intelligente Steuerung des ökologischen Umbaus
(1995)
Amory Lovins in Wuppertal
(1994)
Europa-Forum Kunststoffverwertung : Dokumentation der Tagung vom 3. Dezember 1993, Saarbrücken
(1994)
Sustainable economy
(1994)
This paper claims that countries of the North must develop a new model of wealth - one less harmful to the environment and capable of being applied throughout the world. There are reasons to be hopeful they will do so: first, they have the means at their disposal; second, it is a misconception that environmental protection is a cost; and third, there is mounting pressure for change as indicated by air, water and soil quality data. The challenge is to move the emphasis away from end-of-the-pipe pollution control to improving resource productivity. The best way of doing this is through the imposition of "green taxes" to raise resource prices. If governments compensate by cutting other taxes to make the change revenue-neutral, there would be real benefits to the environment and the economy, particularly in developing countries.
Der aufgeklärte Eigennutz
(1994)
Energiepreise
(1993)
Vom Kreuz der Einsichtigen
(1993)
Prices should tell the truth
(1992)