Summary: Economy‐wide material flow analysis (MFA) and derived indicators have been developed to monitor and assess the metabolic performance of economies, that is, with respect to the internal economic flows and the exchange of materials with the environment and with other economies. Indicators such as direct material input (DMI) and direct material consumption (DMC) measure material use related to either production or consumption. Domestic hidden flows (HF) account for unused domestic extraction, and foreign HF represent the upstream primary resource requirements of the imports. DMI and domestic and foreign HF account for the total material requirement (TMR) of an economy. Subtracting the exports and their HF provides the total material consumption (TMC). DMI and TMR are used to measure the (de‐) coupling of resource use and economic growth, providing the basis for resource efficiency indicators. Accounting for TMR allows detection of shifts from domestic to foreign resource requirements. Net addition to stock (NAS) measures the physical growth of an economy. It indicates the distance from flow equilibrium of inputs and outputs that may be regarded as a necessary condition of a sustainable mature metabolism. We discuss the extent to which MFA‐based indicators can also be used to assess the environmental performance. For that purpose we consider different impacts of material flows, and different scales and perspectives of the analysis, and distinguish between turnover‐based indicators of generic environmental pressure and impact‐based indicators of specific environmental pressure. Indicators such as TMR and TMC are regarded as generic pressure indicators that may not be used to indicate specific environmental impacts. The TMR of industrial countries is discussed with respect to the question of whether volume and composition may be regarded as unsustainable.

This article presents the accounts of China’s Total Material Requirement (TMR) during 1995–2008, which were compiled under the guidelines of Eurostat (2009) and with the Hidden Flow (HF) coefficients developed by the Wuppertal Institute. Subsequently, comparisons with previous studies are conducted. Using decomposition, we finally examine the influential factors that have changed the TMR of China. The main findings are the following: (1) During 1995–2008 China’s TMR increased from 32.7 Gt to 57.0 Gt. Domestic extraction dominated China’s TMR, but a continuous decrease of its shares can be observed. In terms of material types, excavation constituted the biggest component of China’s TMR, and a shift from biomass to metallic minerals is apparent; (2) Compared with two previous studies on China’s TMR, the amounts of TMR in this study are similar to the others, whereas the amounts of the used part of TMR (Direct Material Input, DMI) are quite different as a result of following different guidelines; (3) Compared with developed countries, China’s TMR per capita was much lower, but a continuous increase of this indicator can be observed; (4) Factors of Affluence (A) and Material Intensity (T), respectively, contributed the most to the increase and decrease of TMR, but the overall decrease effect is limited.

This chapter will provide an overview and international comparison of global material resource and land use of the European Union. The current level and composition of total material consumption of industrial economies can hardly serve as a model for worldwide adoption, as this would lead to an increase of global resource extraction by a factor of 2 to 5. Nevertheless, the good news is that a decoupling of economic growth and material and resource use is already under way. There is, however, no reason to expect an automatic absolute decline of resource consumption. On the contrary, stabilisation at a high level seems probable and the rapid increase of resource requirements in countries such as China indicates the need for enhanced decoupling. Our analysis reveals that resource requirements of industrial regions such as the EU are being increasingly supplied from other regions, and in particular from developing countries which have to carry a growing burden of resource extraction and refining. We will have a closer look at the case study of the platinum group of metals (PGM). The ‘green polluter’ provides an excellent example of how environmental policy and technology can contribute to problem shifting; and of how future technological development, such as the widespread introduction of fuel cells, will be faced with severe scarcity problems, should the efficiency of material use not be drastically increased. The case of biofuels then shows that these may turn out to be risky renewables. The growing demand for non-food biomass will lead to global expansion of cropland at the expense of natural ecosystems, with impacts on biodiversity and higher risk of climate change. Again, alternative and more efficient use of biomass and mineral resources may lead the way towards more sustainable resource use. Building the bridge to economic actors we analyse and compare ndustries and product groups. Only a few are associated with the major share of the economy's resource requirements as well as with environmental pressures such as global warming. These sectors also perform below average with regard to socioeconomic indicators such as employment. Our results show that dematerialisation in terms of resource productivity gains could contribute to resource as well as climate protection while improving socioeconomic development.

This chapter intends to outline the emerging field of resource policy. A strategic approach is described considering the role of competitiveness and innovation, the influence of barriers and incentives, and the scale and scope of system innovations. Essential elements for resource policies are improved information and dissemination and the creation of lead markets. A sectoral approach is deemed necessary to promote a more efficient and sustainable use of resources in key industries. Adjusting the framework conditions for industry and households might be a prerequisite for making change happen. To proceed at the international level, a strategic partnership between the EU, Japan and the USA is suggested, and elements of a global governance system of sustainable resource management are described.

Weltweit wächst der Druck zur Ausweitung landwirtschaftlicher Flächen auf Kosten natürlicher Ökosysteme vor allem durch die steigende Nachfrage nach tierbasierter Nahrung und künftig verstärkt durch den Anbau von Energiepflanzen. Zusätzliche Treibhausgas-Emissionen und andere Umweltbelastungen sind die Folge. Die (Flächen-) Konkurrenz zwischen Nahrungsmittelverfbrauch einerseits und zwischen energetischem und stofflichem Einsatz von Non-Food-Biomasse andererseits wächst. Produktionsseitige Strategien haben eine begrenzte Wirkung auf die globale Flächen