Three Scenario Narratives for a Resource-Efficient and Low-Carbon Europe in 2050

Karin Schanes, Jill Jäger and Paul Drummond

Ecological Economics, 2019, vol. 155, issue C, 70-79

Abstract: Global trends in production and consumption and the associated use of natural resources are far from sustainable. There is a growing recognition of the need to tackle overexploitation of resources, including materials, land, water and carbon. However, transformations to a more resource-efficient economy and society are complex. This paper elaborates three possible scenarios for a resource-efficient economy in Europe. We describe three scenarios and characterize the key differences between them. The basis of the three scenarios - Global Cooperation, Europe Goes Ahead and Civil Society Leads - is very different governance models, worldviews and actors who drive the process. Each scenario encompasses a number of challenges, which are also described. A resource-efficient economy could be advanced through top-down agreements, through market-based mechanisms driving technological solutions, and through bottom-up behavioural changes and community based initiatives focusing on both efficiency and sufficiency. In reality, a combination of these approaches is likely to be required for the achievement of ambitious resource-efficiency targets in Europe.

Keywords: Resources; Resource efficiency; Sufficiency; Scenarios; Governance; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800917302367
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:155:y:2019:i:c:p:70-79

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.02.009

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland

More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().