Publications

Decent living standards, prosperity, and excessive consumption in the Lorenz curve

A new model developed by Stefan Pauliuk calculates sustainable consumption corridors based on decent living standards and the acceptable maximum under ecological ceilings, while still allowing for reasonable levels of inequality and ample prosperous consumption. Based on the insight that decent living standards constrain the slope of the Lorenz curve for the lowest decile, this simple model determines total consumption from only three factors: per capita decent living standards, the Gini coefficient of inequality, and population. With a constraint on maximum acceptable living standards, overall consumption splits into three components: basic needs satisfaction, prosperous consumption, and excessive consumption.

Material Requirements of Decent Living Standards

Decent living standards (DLS) provide a framework to estimate a practical threshold for the energy, GHG, and material consumption required to alleviate poverty. Dr. Johan Vélez quantified the amount of materials in stocks and flows needed to provide a DLS, and finds that a material footprint (MF) of about 6 t/(cap*yr) and in-use stocks of about 43 t/cap are required. Nutrition (39%) and mobility (26%) contribute the most to total MF. Buildings and infrastructure account for the largest share of in-use stocks. Read the publication (Vélez and Pauliuk 2023) here:

Resource and Emission Savings from Material Efficiency

Material production accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We present a global-scale analysis of material efficiency for passenger vehicles and residential buildings. We estimate future changes in material flows and energy use due to increased yields, light design, material substitution, extended service life, and increased service efficiency, reuse, and recycling. Together, these strategies can reduce cumulative global GHG emissions until 2050 by 20–52 Gt CO₂-eq (residential buildings) and 13–26 Gt CO₂e-eq (passenger vehicles), depending on policy assumptions. Next to energy efficiency and low-carbon energy supply, material efficiency is the third pillar of deep decarbonization for these sectors. Read the publication (Pauliuk et al. 2021) here: