A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping
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 continu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab8429 |
| _version_ | 1797747517954195456 |
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| author | Dominik Wiedenhofer Doris Virág Gerald Kalt Barbara Plank Jan Streeck Melanie Pichler Andreas Mayer Fridolin Krausmann Paul Brockway Anke Schaffartzik Tomer Fishman Daniel Hausknost Bartholomäus Leon-Gruchalski Tânia Sousa Felix Creutzig Helmut Haberl |
| author_facet | Dominik Wiedenhofer Doris Virág Gerald Kalt Barbara Plank Jan Streeck Melanie Pichler Andreas Mayer Fridolin Krausmann Paul Brockway Anke Schaffartzik Tomer Fishman Daniel Hausknost Bartholomäus Leon-Gruchalski Tânia Sousa Felix Creutzig Helmut Haberl |
| author_sort | Dominik Wiedenhofer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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—approach 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:51:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e719dc1076d4d0f881d901e5cca2e7a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:51:44Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e719dc1076d4d0f881d901e5cca2e7a2023-08-09T15:06:33ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-0115606300210.1088/1748-9326/ab8429A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mappingDominik Wiedenhofer0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7418-3477Doris Virág1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8300-8590Gerald Kalt2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4087-8902Barbara Plank3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0306-3715Jan Streeck4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4083-0044Melanie Pichler5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6224-1609Andreas Mayer6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6975-7082Fridolin Krausmann7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9995-2372Paul Brockway8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6925-8040Anke Schaffartzik9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0284-6099Tomer Fishman10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4405-2382Daniel Hausknost11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0496-5526Bartholomäus Leon-Gruchalski12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6289-9961Tânia Sousa13Felix Creutzig14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5710-3348Helmut Haberl15https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2104-5446Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaSchool of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds , Leeds, United KingdomInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, Austria; Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) , Barcelona, SpainSchool of Sustainability, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya , Herzliya, IsraelInstitute of Social Change and Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business , Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Safety and Risk Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaInstituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa , Lisbon, PortugalMercator Institute for the Global Commons (MCC) , Berlin, Germany; Technical University Berlin , Berlin, GermanyInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences , Vienna, AustriaAs 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—approach 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.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab8429decouplinggreen growthdegrowthEnvironmental Kuznets Curvedematerializationdecarbonization |
| spellingShingle | Dominik Wiedenhofer Doris Virág Gerald Kalt Barbara Plank Jan Streeck Melanie Pichler Andreas Mayer Fridolin Krausmann Paul Brockway Anke Schaffartzik Tomer Fishman Daniel Hausknost Bartholomäus Leon-Gruchalski Tânia Sousa Felix Creutzig Helmut Haberl A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping Environmental Research Letters decoupling green growth degrowth Environmental Kuznets Curve dematerialization decarbonization |
| title | A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping |
| title_full | A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping |
| title_fullStr | A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping |
| title_full_unstemmed | A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping |
| title_short | A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part I: bibliometric and conceptual mapping |
| title_sort | systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of gdp resource use and ghg emissions part i bibliometric and conceptual mapping |
| topic | decoupling green growth degrowth Environmental Kuznets Curve dematerialization decarbonization |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab8429 |
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