In the past, global economic growth has been accompanied by a continuous increase in global resource use. It is generally recognised that more sustainable use of natural resources (raw materials, land and water) is a key challenge for environmental policy if we are to reduce the resulting burden on the environment.
Uncoupling prosperity from resource use appears to be an important long-term policy goal. But how can this be achieved and, against a backdrop of increasing globalisation, what contribution can politicians, producers and consumers make to achieving it?
Our research and consultancy activities in the resources field are dedicated to answering these questions. Taking a meso-economic perspective we use empirical methods and analytical instruments (in particular our in-house global simulation model GINFORS) to make medium and long-term projections of domestic and international economic developments and associated resource use.
Our model-based ex ante simulations are extremely comprehensive. With global coverage and by taking full account of economic structures in the national models for each country, our approach is able to model direct and indirect effects of the measures analysed, including any rebound effects.
It is also worth noting that we boast outstanding expertise in the calculation of resource indicators such as RMC and RMI. Using an MRIO approach, which identifies direct and indirect raw material content in a range of final use products at all points along the global value chain, the global coverage of our model allows these indicators to be calculated for individual countries and regions.
Projects
- Meeting the Paris Agreement and Supporting Sustainability - quantifying synergies and trade-offs
- Socially compatible design of climate mitigation and energy transition in low-income households
- Entwicklung von Vorschlägen zum Einsatz von ökonomischen Instrumenten zur Steigerung der Ressourceneffizienz in Deutschland und der EU
- Modelle, Potenziale und Langfristszenarien für Ressourceneffizienz (SimRess)
- Policy Options for a Resource-Efficient Economy (POLFREE)
- Globally sustainable material prosperity standards
- Analysing the German Resource Policy (PolRess)
- Optimierung von Engstellen in den Lebensraumnetzwerken
- Datenankauf für das „Netzwerk Vulnerabilität“: Sozioökonomische Daten und Daten zur Flächeninanspruchnahme bis 2030
- Macroeconomic Modelling of Sustainable Development and the Links between the Economy and the Environment (MacMod)
- Materialeffizienz und Ressourcenschonung (MaRess)
Publications
- Macroeconomic Modelling of Sustainable Development and the Links between the Economy and the Environment.
- Ressourcenproduktivität und Klimaverträglichkeit - Instrumentenwahl und ihre Wechselwirkungen.
- Global nachhaltige materielle Wohlstandsniveaus – Analyse und Veranschaulichung global nachhaltiger materieller Versorgungsgrade auf der Ebene von Haushalten.
- Interactive analysis of individual consumption patterns with regard to raw-material availability - The web tool My Raw Material World.
- Report about integrated scenario interpretation: Comparison of results.
- Report about integrated scenario interpretation: GINFORS/LPJmL results.
- Nexus Ressourceneffizienz und Energiewende.
- Handlungsbedarf bei der Modellierung des Ressourcenverbrauchs – Empirischer Befund und Methodische Anmerkungen.
- Dokumentation des Analyserahmens: Modellstruktur, Baselineannahmen und Implementation der Maßnahmen.
- Simulationsergebnisse: Entwicklung der Rohstoffnutzung in Deutschland unter verschiedenen Rahmenbedingungen sowie Betrachtung der ökonomischen und ökologischen Effekte ausgewählter Handlungsansätze.
- Simulationsstudien der Potenziale von Gütersteuern zur Reduktion der internationalen Ressourceninanspruchnahme.
- Innovationsorientierte Ressourcenpolitik in planetaren Grenzen.
- Imperfect Markets and the Properties of Macro-economic-environmental Models as Tools for Policy Evaluation.
- Quantitative Assessment of Pathways to a Resource-Efficient and Low-Carbon Europe.
- Imperfect Markets and the Properties of Macro-economic-environmental Models as Tools for Policy Evaluation.
- Pathways to a Resource-Efficient and Low-Carbon Europe.
- Simulation von Ressourcenschonungspolitik mit GINFORS im SimRess-Projekt: Systemgrenzen, Modellinteraktion, Indikatoren und Baseline-Ergebnisse.
- Structures of a welfare-oriented sustainable impact assessment model and practical implementation experiences.
- On the Road to a Resource Efficient Europe: Recent Findings from POLFREE Research.
- Foresight and scenarios: modelling practices and resource nexus assessment.
- Analysis of the global meetPASS Mitigation Scenario.
- Evaluation von Klimaschutzmaßnahmen mit dem Modell e3.at.
- Evaluation von Klimaschutzmaßnahmen mit dem Modell e3.at.
- Selection of suitable SDG indicators for the evaluation of climate mitigation scenarios.
- Development of the meetPASS Mitigation Scenario.