A. C. Brent, S. Oelofse and L. Godfrey.

South African Journal of Science, Vol. 104, No. 1-2, Jan-Feb 2008, pp. 9-12.

INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY SEEKS TO APPLY THE knowledge of systems in nature to the design and operation of industrial activities, to achieve integrated and sustainable relationships between the natural world and industry. Although the theoretical underpinning of the field corresponds in some ways to that of the emerging discipline of sus-tainability science, industrial ecology has evolved along two main directions that may be more practical for industry and policymakers: 'eco-industrial parks' and islands of sustainability; and 'dematerialization-decar-bonization' and the service economy. The opportunities and risks associated with applying the concepts of industrial ecology have been argued globally. This article provides an overview of how the concepts have already been applied to some extent in South Africa. We recommend how industrial ecology may be nurtured here, prioritizing areas where the field can be institutionalized.

F. B. Schmidt-Bleek.

Environmental Research, Engineering and Management, Vol. 45, No. 3, 2008, pp. 5-22.

Climatic change is commonly thought to be the ecological problem. But even if we had solved this crisis, the systemic mismatch between our economic performance and the stability of the carrier system earth would still remain. For improving decisively the chances of human survival on our planet, the world-wide generation of welfare must be achieved by 2050 with a per capita ecological footprint of .8 ha, a per capita consumption of 5 - 6 yearly tons of non-renewable material resources, and an emission of CO sub(2) not exceeding 2 tons per year and person. These goals imply a manifold dematerialization in the western world, but will allow reasonable growth in many poorer countries. These goals should be independently reviewed, and where need be adjusted and refined in the light of growing experience and a changing world population. Considerable practical experience has shown that the chances for achieving these goals are reasonable from a technical point of view - without jeopardizing end use satisfaction. However, the economic framework of today, fiscal policies, the price structure for labor and natural resources, perverse subsidies, the distribution of wealth and health, as well as the wide variation of access to food and education, are not supporting at this time a promising future with a future. Coherent key indicators for social, institutional and in particular economic progress toward a more sustainable future have not as yet been agreed to. This paper describes a systems-based approach for framing the ecological dimension of sustainability.

Laura Saikku, Aapo Rautiainen and Pekka E. Kauppi.

Energy Policy, Vol. 36, No. 2, Feb 2008, pp. 730-742.

Following the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union obligated itself to lower its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 20% below their 1990 level, by the year 2020. Carbon dioxide is the major GHG. To fulfil this obligation, the nations must meet the sustainability challenge of countering rising population plus affluence with the dematerialization of less energy per GDP plus the decarbonization of less carbon per energy. To test the feasibility of meeting the challenge, we analysed carbon dioxide emission during 1993-2004. Although emissions in the entire Union grew only by an average of 0.31% per year, emissions and their drivers varied markedly among the 27 member states. Dematerialization and decarbonization did occur, but not enough to offset the slight population growth plus rapidly increasing affluence. To fulfil its obligation in the next 12 years, the EU27 would have to counter its increasing population and affluence by a combined dematerialization and decarbonization 1.9-2.6 times faster than during 1993-2004. Hence, fulfilling its obligation by addressing fossil carbon emissions alone is very unlikely. [Copyright 2008 Elsevier Ltd.]

Peter Bartelmus.

Ecological Economics, Vol. 46, No. 1, August 2003, pp. 61-81.

The reductionist trend of equating sustainable development with sustained economic growth needs to be reversed. New accounts and balances help to operationalize the elusive notion of sustainability: they provide a coherent picture of the interaction between environment and economy. "Greened" national accounts measure economic sustainability in terms of (produced and natural) capital maintenance; balances of material flows assess ecological sustainability as the dematerialization of production and consumption. Both concepts aim to preserve environmental assets, but differ in scope, strength and evaluation of sustainability. First results for Germany indicate weak sustainability of the economy; strong sustainability is not in sight because of insufficient reduction of material throughput. Attaining sustainability through integrated policies needs the support of share- and stakeholders of sustainable development.

Maria Jolanta Welfens.

International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 26, No. 7/8/9, 1999, pp. 945-955.

The discussion of sustainable development focused attention on new environmental goals and raised the issue of improving resource productivity. A first step towards sustainability would be to slow-down and reduce the man-induced movements of materials: this is the focus of dematerialization approach which emphasizes what socialist countries used to neglect most - minimizing the use of scarce input factors. This paper applies the dematerialization approach to the discussion on sustainable development in central and eastern Europe. In the early 1990s all countries in eastern Europe have developed new environmental programs which mainly focus on reducing pollution. Environmental strategies focusing on reducing emissions are important but not sufficient for reaching sustainability. A new orientation in the environmental policy in the young market economies is required. Dematerialization approach can be a new option for environmental policy in central and eastern Europe. Dematerialization requires a mix of instruments. Important role can be played by an ecological fiscal reform which covers ecological tax reform and the restructuring of subsidies.