City-Level Decoupling-Full Report

City-Level Decoupling: Urban resource flows and the governance of infrastructure transitions

propose 'Factor 5' improvements across a wide range of key economic sectors that have already been developed and can be more generally applied as the basis for a new green economy. 80 Given the escalating pace of technological innovation and compound effects of efficiencies, in the near future it may be possible to move beyond Factor 5. This is reflected in the goal of 'Factor 4-10' resource productivity improvements which have been proposed for industrialised countries in the next 30-50 years 81 and is the focus of the Decoupling 2 report. Improvements in resource efficiency can be described as a relative decoupling strategy as fewer resources are used to achieve the same goals, or the same amount is used to achieve greater results. However, it does not fundamentally eliminate dependence on limited resources, and runs the risk of being pursued without understanding the impact on total resource consumption. In the case of non-renewable resources, efficiency measures alone can suffer from the 'rebound effect,' 82 effectively cancelling out net environmental benefits with consumption increases that have been encouraged by the efficiency gains. 83 As a stand-alone strategy to manage non- renewable resources, improvements to resource productivity in the context of a growing population can only help to prolong the status quo until limits are reached. A certain amount of material is required to support a good quality of human life, so reducing per capita consumption of resources can only be pursued up to a certain point. However, a switch from consumption of finite resources toward sustainably managed renewable resources like sunlight, wind and biomass opens up the possibility of being able to meet the needs of more people. (Some distinguish this decoupling strategy as ‘transmaterialisation' or switching to materials that deliver a service with a lower impact per unit). 84 This shifts the focus from reducing damage to generating new alternatives, 5.3.2. Use renewable resources and ecosystem services

and broadens the scope of innovation for sustainability beyond the status quo.

Examples from the case studies include:

• ‘Positive energy' houses that contribute to grid electricity in Vauban’s solar settlement in Freiburg, Germany;

• The installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the town hall in Totnes, England;

• Retrofitting government housing with solar water heaters in Cape Town, South Africa;

• Harnessing solar and wind power to generate electricity in Masdar, Abu Dhabi, and positioning buildings to funnel cool winds through the city;

• Harnessing rainwater to replenish depleted aquifers in Chennai, India; and

• Diverting stormwater and processing used water to augment the potable water supply in Singapore. Similarly, the use of finite resources in meeting some human needs can be reduced by harnessing and maximizing the benefits provided by natural systems, otherwise known as 'ecosystem services'. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment showed that human wellbeing is dependent on ecosystem health, and divided the ecosystem services on which socio- economic systems depend into four categories: 85 1. Provisioning services: food, water, fibres, natural medicines, pharmaceuticals, genetic resources and bio-chemicals. 2. Regulating services: air quality, water regulation, water purification and waste treatment, pollination, erosion regulation, climate regulation, disease regulation, pest regulation, and natural hazard regulation. 3. Cultural services: spiritual and religious values, aesthetic values, ecotourism, and recreation.

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