The fourth Factor X publication from the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), Sustainable Development and Resource Productivity: The Nexus Approaches explores the interdependencies of sustainable development paths and associated resource requirements, describing and analysing the necessities for a more resource efficient world. The use of and competition for increasingly scarce resources are growing worldwide with current production and consumption patterns of industrialised economies soon to reach the point where the ecosphere will be overtaxed far beyond its limits. Against this background, this volume examines the important initiatives to monitor resource use at the international, EU and national level. The current trends and challenges related to sustainable resource use are discussed, including international challenges for a resource efficient world, megatrends, justice and equitable access to resources. In the second part of the book, contributions examine implementation strategies. They assess the concept known as circular economy and discuss the theory of growth and the role of the financial and education systems. The final section places special emphasis on practical examples. Overall, the book presents concrete ways and examples of achieving more sustainability in practice. Discussing solutions for a more sustainable use of natural resources, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of natural resources and sustainable development and decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry and civil society. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003000365, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This book explores one way in which a tax system might help promote competitiveness and sustainable development. Focusing on the UK corporation tax, it recommends the introduction of a Resource Productivity Tax Credit, where resource productivity is defined as the money value of outputs relative to the money value of material resource and non-renewable energy inputs. The book is structured such that it first explores the legal mandate to promote competitiveness and sustainable development as contained in article 3(3) of the Treaty of the European Union. It then explores what competitiveness and sustainable development actually mean, particularly in an EU policy context, through the lenses of Europe 2020 and the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. It concludes that not only is there a great deal of common ground between competitiveness and sustainable development, as objectives, but that increasing resource productivity is a necessary means to those shared ends. After exploring EU tax policy and the relevant rules of the UK corporation tax for evidence of any kind of focus on competitiveness and sustainable development, as well as examining the suitability of corporate income taxes as policy instruments for increasing resource productivity, the book concludes that there is ample scope for a statutory tax incentive to be appended to the UK corporation tax to help fulfil the article 3 mandate. The headline objective of the Resource Productivity Tax Credit is to promote higher resource productivity in the trading activities of individual companies, in particular targeted sectors, through improvements to the knowledge base of those companies rather than through the increased use of raw materials, non-renewable energy and/or intermediate goods.

The EU is a major trade partner with India, and economic linkages continue to deepen. India and the EU have increased their political interactions and are crucial partners in promoting sustainable development. Recent trends in India-EU relations show that New Delhi and Brussels are keen to expand their partnership in multiple areas, including sustainable development and natural resources management. This volume takes a unique approach to exploring the efficient management of resources in the era of resource depletion due to climate changes and business expansion, in conjunction with considering the multiple dimensions of India-European Union cooperation. It analyzes regional and global trends in the process of globalization and sustainable development, particularly in the context of natural resource management and resource efficiency. It offers a variety of perspectives through useful and current information in this field, providing a concise and holistic understanding of the issues and challenges faced when exploiting natural resources for sustainable and efficient resource utilization.

Written by international experts in their respective fields, Sustainable Growth and Resource Productivity provides a comprehensive overview of global issues of raw materials supply and resource use. It also introduces new views and perspectives on the sustainable growth of emerging economies and develops a rationale for a new resource economics. This book emphasises why resources are back on the agenda: firstly, because of their fundamental economic role in technological progress and long-term prosperity; secondly, because deficits in raw material markets are now intertwined with deficits in the financial markets; and, thirdly, because the sustainable management of natural resources is a crucial element in responses to new global challenges such as climate change. Sustainable Growth and Resource Productivity analyses raw materials supply and resource use in a global context. The contributions present state-of-the-art results and perspectives on the availability of resources and discuss factors such as limited supply, demand from emerging and other economies and the critical shortage of some materials – particularly some metals – that are essential inputs in many high-tech processes and may put certain industries at risk. Sustainable Growth and Resource Productivity sheds new light on the economics of sustainable growth. Linking the current financial crisis with stock market pricing and innovation dynamics, it argues for reforms in international macro-economic policies. It also critically discusses the implications of valuing labour productivity over capital and resource productivity and argues that policies favouring capital productivity will increase both social and economic sustainability. Further contributions are made on the business dimensions of material efficiency as well as on policy recommendations. The book examines the overall empirical trend towards decoupling resource use from economic growth. It undertakes a rigorous cross-country comparison and looks in more detail at the cases of Finland and Greece, as well as at emerging economies and their role in the global governance of natural resources. A key focus is placed on China, with discussion of recent findings regarding Chinese domestic policy on energy, climate and resources as well as on developing Chinese foreign policy in Africa. The book concludes with the positing of a new theory of resource economics: an emerging sub-discipline that puts resources at its heart but clearly aligns with other fields of economics, and transcends the borderlines of geology, geography, material science, recycling and waste, as well as elements of other social sciences. This important new book will be essential reading for economic researchers, governmental officials, businesses and NGOs with an interest in understanding the policy links to sustainable growth and in learning more about the emerging field of resource productivity.

This report responds to the request by G7 Leaders at the Schloss Elmau Summit in June 2015, for the OECD to develop policy guidance on resource efficiency.

Creating decent living conditions for all people while decoupling economic growth from the increasing use of virgin resources and environmental impacts is the major challenge of this millennium. There are many approaches suggested for solving these problems, including changing consumption behavior from material products to services, finding technological solutions to create more closed loops for materials, and using fewer virgin resources and energy obtained from clean renewable sources. A main issue to address is sludge formation during wastewater treatment. As such, this book, over seven chapters divided into two sections, investigates the application of biosolids or sewage sludge together with possible resources for sustainable development. It also presents information on resource efficiency from a more complex perspective, looking at several resources and the causal links between them in order to point out new pathways towards a more sustainable use of resources.

This book covers the multi-faceted incentives, trade-offs, and challenges associated with the economics and politics of resource efficiency investments. By contributing a wide range of empirical evidence, practitioners' insights, and policy perspectives, this book carefully examines the role of resource efficiency in reconciling environmental and economic considerations. It also discusses the critical role of resource efficiency investments in mitigating climate change and enabling sustainable development. Featuring expert insights from academia, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, this book provides a policy oriented guide, reference, and toolbox for unlocking the potential of resource efficiency. To this end, it identifies practical measures for overcoming barriers and creating smart incentives for leveraging resource efficiency investments. Overall, this book brings together evidence to develop innovative ideas and strategies for improving the efficient use of resources and advancing clean and sustainable development. "This book is an important and timely contribution", Angel Gurria, Secretary General, OECD

The Annual Report objectively reflects the year’s developments in terms of politics, the economy, society, culture, the environment, innovation and reform, and describes the problems, challenges and countermeasures in both traditional and new special economic zones. It provides an analysis of China’s special economic zones, including a review of the year’s developments in the form of experimental zones. It also presents new special economic zones and focuses on analyzing the transformation of these zones; the use of resources; sustainable, economic and social development; social security and technical innovation in the context of current developments. It also offers a comparative analysis and makes policy and development suggestions for each issue.

sustainable development Strategy : Illusion or reality?, thirteenth report of session 2003-04, Vol. 2: Written and oral Evidence