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Delaying mitigation action can have long-lived consequences. Retaining or augmenting carbon- or energy-intensive technology stocks locks in their emissions
intensity for at least the life of those assets ( IPCC 2014a ). Where stocks operate in
a system, e.g. roads and private transport, the inertia against change can be even
greater. In many sectors, the technology to achieve cuts in emissions is already
available (Pacala and Socolow 2004 ; IPCC 2014b ), which undermines the contrary
view that it may be better to wait for yet more effi cient technology and hold off
investment until that is available.
Returning to the example of the aluminium industry, Liu et al. ( 2013 ) explored
four options to reduce resource use in products: scrap collection, minimising losses,
effi ciency improvement and decoupling emissions from electricity supply. They
also considered three high-level scenarios of reducing the demand for stocks by
assuming different saturation levels for global in-use aluminium per capita. They
found that the effectiveness of mitigation options depended heavily on the stock
dynamics and the timing of stock creation and scrap availability. Among the options
they simulated for reducing emissions in aluminium production was CCS in decarbonising electricity. Introducing effi ciency measures and CCS early (before 2030)
had a greater effect because emissions related to aluminium in new building, transport and communication infrastructure were reduced. Conversely, later in the century, maximising scrap collection had an increasing benefi t as earlier cohorts of
stock came to the end of their lifetime.
5 The Socio-economic Metabolism Framework and Wealth
Building up the infrastructure capacity, as an essential component of wealth, also
involves energy and emissions. A dynamic metabolic analysis properly represents
both physical wealth in in-use stocks and the material and energy fl ows needed to
create and maintain those stocks. Economic or physical fl ow measures may represent growth and development, but they are insuffi cient to understand long-term
change and the lasting effect of wealth creation. On the basis of environmental and
economic fl ows alone, developing nations appear highly materialised compared
with industrialised countries and have lower productivity, but a more balanced
assessment, taking into account physical stocks and infrastructure, can provide
information on their relative socio-economic situation. In reporting and modelling
sustainable development, physical in-use stocks are an essential complement to the
current information on fl ows in the system of environmental and economic
accounting.
There are conceptual parallels between the economic and environmental accounting systems even if their valuation and methodology differ. In the UN system of
national accounting (European Commission et al. 2009 ), economists measure
income as separate from wealth. Although the income measure of GDP is commonly misperceived as a measure of wealth, there is a separate ledger of assets and
liabilities from which ‘net worth’ is calculated. This is entirely a calculation on
6 A Socio-economic Metabolism Approach to Sustainable Development and Climate…
Delaying mitigation action can have long-lived consequences. Retaining or augmenting carbon- or energy-intensive technology stocks locks in their emissions
intensity for at least the life of those assets ( IPCC 2014a ). Where stocks operate in
a system, e.g. roads and private transport, the inertia against change can be even
greater. In many sectors, the technology to achieve cuts in emissions is already
available (Pacala and Socolow 2004 ; IPCC 2014b ), which undermines the contrary
view that it may be better to wait for yet more effi cient technology and hold off
investment until that is available.
Returning to the example of the aluminium industry, Liu et al. ( 2013 ) explored
four options to reduce resource use in products: scrap collection, minimising losses,
effi ciency improvement and decoupling emissions from electricity supply. They
also considered three high-level scenarios of reducing the demand for stocks by
assuming different saturation levels for global in-use aluminium per capita. They
found that the effectiveness of mitigation options depended heavily on the stock
dynamics and the timing of stock creation and scrap availability. Among the options
they simulated for reducing emissions in aluminium production was CCS in decarbonising electricity. Introducing effi ciency measures and CCS early (before 2030)
had a greater effect because emissions related to aluminium in new building, transport and communication infrastructure were reduced. Conversely, later in the century, maximising scrap collection had an increasing benefi t as earlier cohorts of
stock came to the end of their lifetime.
5 The Socio-economic Metabolism Framework and Wealth
Building up the infrastructure capacity, as an essential component of wealth, also
involves energy and emissions. A dynamic metabolic analysis properly represents
both physical wealth in in-use stocks and the material and energy fl ows needed to
create and maintain those stocks. Economic or physical fl ow measures may represent growth and development, but they are insuffi cient to understand long-term
change and the lasting effect of wealth creation. On the basis of environmental and
economic fl ows alone, developing nations appear highly materialised compared
with industrialised countries and have lower productivity, but a more balanced
assessment, taking into account physical stocks and infrastructure, can provide
information on their relative socio-economic situation. In reporting and modelling
sustainable development, physical in-use stocks are an essential complement to the
current information on fl ows in the system of environmental and economic
accounting.
There are conceptual parallels between the economic and environmental accounting systems even if their valuation and methodology differ. In the UN system of
national accounting (European Commission et al. 2009 ), economists measure
income as separate from wealth. Although the income measure of GDP is commonly misperceived as a measure of wealth, there is a separate ledger of assets and
liabilities from which ‘net worth’ is calculated. This is entirely a calculation on
6 A Socio-economic Metabolism Approach to Sustainable Development and Climate…