Article: Environmental governance in the European Union: strategies and instruments for absolute decoupling Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Development (IJSD) 2005 Vol.8 No.1/2 pp.31 - 46 Abstract: The EU recently emphasised the need to speed up the pace of reforms to improve the state of the environment both in Europe and internationally. This becomes in particular challenging, as the ||Lisbon Strategy|| defines the general goal of an annual economic growth rate of 3%. Decoupling of economic growth from the use of natural resources and the production of waste and emissions is regarded as the core strategy to reconcile environmental protection and continued economic growth. However, measurable policy targets are to a large extent, missing. Furthermore, a comprehensive headline indicator for the evaluation of progress towards an absolute reduction of environmental pressures is missing in the Lisbon indicator set. We use the concept of societal metabolism as a framework for deriving priority environmental policy themes for decoupling efforts. A mix of policy instruments is suggested for achieving the overarching target of absolute decoupling through dematerialisation (quantity) and detoxification (quality) of production and consumption activities. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Environmental governance in the European Union: strategies and instruments for absolute decoupling

Authors: Stefan Giljum, Thomas Hak, Friedrich Hinterberger, Jan Kovanda

Addresses: Sustainable Europe Research Institute, SERI, Garnisongasse 7/27, A 1090 Wien, Austria. ' Charles University Environment Center, U Krize 8, 158 00 Praha 5, Czech Republic. ' Sustainable Europe Research Institute, SERI, Garnisongasse 7/27, A 1090 Wien, Austria. ' Charles University Environment Center, U Krize 8, 158 00 Praha 5, Czech Republic

Abstract: The EU recently emphasised the need to speed up the pace of reforms to improve the state of the environment both in Europe and internationally. This becomes in particular challenging, as the ||Lisbon Strategy|| defines the general goal of an annual economic growth rate of 3%. Decoupling of economic growth from the use of natural resources and the production of waste and emissions is regarded as the core strategy to reconcile environmental protection and continued economic growth. However, measurable policy targets are to a large extent, missing. Furthermore, a comprehensive headline indicator for the evaluation of progress towards an absolute reduction of environmental pressures is missing in the Lisbon indicator set. We use the concept of societal metabolism as a framework for deriving priority environmental policy themes for decoupling efforts. A mix of policy instruments is suggested for achieving the overarching target of absolute decoupling through dematerialisation (quantity) and detoxification (quality) of production and consumption activities.

Keywords: environmental policy; indicators; instrument mix; policy integration; societal metabolism; environmental governance; sustainable development; sustainability; European Union; environmental protection; economic growth; production; consumption; Lisbon Strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSD.2005.007373

International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2005 Vol.8 No.1/2, pp.31 - 46

Published online: 14 Jul 2005 *

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Title: Environmental governance in the European Union: strategies and instruments for absolute decoupling

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