Resource decoupling means reducing the rate of
use of (primary) resources per unit of economic activity. This
‘dematerialization’ is based on using less material, energy, water and land
resources for the same economic output. Resource decoupling leads to an
increase in the efficiency with which resources are used. Such enhanced
resource productivity can usually be measured unequivocally: it can be
expressed for a national economy, an economic sector or a certain economic process
or production chain, by dividing added value by resource use (e.g. GDP/
Domestic Material Consumption). If this quotient increases with time, resource
productivity is rising. Another way to demonstrate resource decoupling is
comparing the gradient of economic output over time with the gradient of
resource input; when the latter is smaller, resource decoupling is occurring
UNEP (2011) Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from
economic growth.
THE ABC FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES
UNEP / UN HABITAT / FIDIC / GI-REC
Based on
