Reexamining the Material Footprint of Nations

The material footprint of nations

Authors:

Wiedmann et al

Abstract:

Metrics on resource productivity currently used by governments suggest that some developed countries have increased the use of natural resources at a slower rate than economic growth (relative decoupling) or have even managed to use fewer resources over time (absolute decoupling). Using the material footprint (MF), a consumption-based indicator of resource use, we find the contrary: Achievements in decoupling in advanced economies are smaller than reported or even nonexistent. We present a time series analysis of the MF of 186 countries and identify material flows associated with global production and consumption networks in unprecedented specificity. By calculating raw material equivalents of international trade, we demonstrate that countries’ use of nondomestic resources is, on average, about threefold larger than the physical quantity of traded goods. As wealth grows, countries tend to reduce their domestic portion of materials extraction through international trade, whereas the overall mass of material consumption generally increases. With every 10% increase in gross domestic product, the average national MF increases by 6%. Our findings call into question the sole use of current resource productivity indicators in policy making and suggest the necessity of an additional focus on consumption-based accounting for natural resource use.

EU Can't Deal With Disintegrating Members

THE demonstrations that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall came out of nowhere, says Günther Dauwen, and had consequences nobody could foresee. Observing the proceedings in Scotland last week, he wondered if something similar might be brewing. From a quiet fourth-floor office in Brussels Mr Dauwen runs the European Free Alliance (EFA), a rum assortment of 40 regional political groups, including the Scottish National Party (SNP), that seek greater autonomy, or, in some cases, independence, from existing countries. From the plains of Silesia to the beaches of Corsica, reckons Mr Dauwen, there is a growing clamour for power among Europe’s long-neglected regions. Scotland is a “beacon” for such places; that its independence referendum was achieved at all encouraged others to think “Yes, we can!”, even though the outcome was negative. In the run-up to the vote the EFA’s website nearly crashed under the weight of traffic.

Watching the streets of Edinburgh filling up with Saltire-waving Catalans, Flemings and South Tyroleans (not to mention Québécois, Kurds and Taiwanese) last week, a visitor might have been forgiven for assuming that something was stirring in Europe. Some commentators fretted about the prospect of “balkanisation” across the continent. Yet although parts of Europe may one day drift towards dissolution, and Catalonia is trying to hold a vote on its future, the Scottish effect was overdone. Pro-independence campaigners in Flanders or the Veneto will have taken heart from the Scottish campaign, but given the different constitutional arrangements of Belgium and Italy they will struggle to draw useful lessons from it. And it will take a lot more to rouse the good burghers of Bavaria or Frisia from their slumbers.

Outside Britain, the biggest impact of a Scottish vote for secession would have been felt within the European Union. Ever since it adopted “Independence in Europe!” as a slogan in 1988, EU membership has been central to the SNP’s proposition. For small nations, the prospect of staying in a giant trading block with its own foreign policy and currency makes the idea of statehood less daunting. In contrast to what is perceived as an oppressive multinational state, it may offer space for identities to flourish. Asked in 2007 if his country wanted to establish a “Greater Albania”, an Albanian official referred to the EU symbol: “Yes we do. It has a blue flag and gold stars on it.”

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