Resources

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.

Publications