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CLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Hans-Jörg Althaus, Jörg Duschmalé and Nicolas Fries
Water
Air
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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FOREWORD BY NICK BEGLINGER,
PRESIDENT OF SWISSCLEANTECH
What is valid for energy consumption applies to the use
of resources as well: It is high time for a turnaround! We
are pleased and proud to present the „Cleantech Strategy to Husband the World’s Resources” as a road map
for going forward in cooperation with the exponents of
the Swiss economy, Swiss politics and the Swiss people
to make sure that Switzerland is husbanding its natural
resources in a sustainable way.
The Federal Council’s answer to the initiative «Grüne Wirtschaft», launched by the Green Party, reads as
follows: The initiative is overly ambitious, as Switzerland
cannot achieve the target of a «Footprint 1» by 2050. In
other words: We, the inhabitants of Switzerland, are not
able to limit our consumption of resources by 2050 to a
level corresponding to our fair share of world consumption and consequently need to have more than one planet
at our disposal for an indefinite period. Currently we
require four planets Earth for the world population to live
as we do in Switzerland.
The last 250 years of development on our globe are spectacular in many ways: From the power produced by the
first steam engine to the generation of electricity by means of photovoltaïc panels, from the earliest electro-mechanical calculator to the smartphone which uses 1000
times less electricity for a 1000fold output, or from the
first train pulled by a huffing and puffing steam engine
to the quiet and energy efficient electric car. The result is
an incredibly high living standard in Switzerland and in
other highly developed countries. Inevitably, this success
story, which entails and depends on economic growth in
its current form, will come up against the physical and
biological limitations to life on our planet.
The most densely populated areas of our globe trail much
behind us insofar as prosperity is concerned, such that
no less than one billion people suffer from permanent
malnutrition. The global population is still increasing,
and consequently more of us are intent on going on consuming ever more. And while we are using up more than
our sustainably fair share, most others aspire to move up
to our level: Does this mean that we have really reached
the ultimate deadlock – with the implication that our
Federal Council is assessing the chances of the initiative
“Grüne Wirtschaft” correctly?
There can be no doubt that Mother Earth is the only
planet humanity can live on, and that the colonization
of other planets will not be an option in the foreseeable
future. The inescapable conclusion: It is imperative that
we act now, an obligation we owe first and foremost to
the coming generations.
And neither will Switzerland have to start from fresh.
With our Energy Strategy 2050, the revised Urban and
Regional Planning Law and the Master Plan Cleantech we
have already taken a series of steps to enhance the efficiency in our use of resources. In 2010, the Federal Council
has initiated the „Action Plan Green Economy“ with its 27
measures contributing to a more economical consumption and efficient use of resources. According to Federal
Councillor Doris Leuthard „the Swiss economy will be the
main beneficiary of our taking the road to a green economy”. Significantly, Swiss people are highly conscious of
environmental issues and already rank among the world
champions when it comes to public transportation, to
consumption of „bio“ products and to recycling.
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Regrettably science has turned out to be of limited help
with respect to the timing of the necessary changes
and their interaction. Planetary Boundaries, the Ecological Footprint or the reference points of a stressed
environment provide indications, but a comprehensive
strategy for sustainable growth on a national as well as
an international scale, with a clear action plan for the
conservation of resources, is missing. Only a “footprint“
equivalent to 1 or less guarantees a sustainable development allowing us to live from our planet’s “products”
without consuming its capital. With respect to resources
such as the climate we have heard the message loud and
clear: To keep global warming within the critical 2° limit
we have to reduce the global output of CO2 by no less
than 90% no later than by 2050.
Since dealing with growth is the central issue, we need
the representatives of the economy at the table. The
new strategy will have to be implemented through the
economy, which, to prosper, feeds on growth, but which
also runs the risk of increasing costs caused by transgressing the planetary limitations. A different kind of growth,
however, presents outstanding opportunities for the Swiss
economy: There is a special and global need for innovation in technologies and systems management. Endeavors such as modernizing the Swiss Environmental Law
(„USG“) are thus of crucial importance to Swiss economic
interests as well.
In this context, back in December 2014, swisscleantech
has published a pioneering study entitled «A swiss made
Future – Growth through Quality». The study deals with
the issue of growth in a basic way and covers the subjects climate and energy, material resources and mobility,
including social issues and aspects of foreign policy.
With the present paper “Cleantech Strategy to Husband
the World’s Resources” we are taking another big step
forward, identifying important connectivities between
various developments, and proposing measures to dealith their consequences.
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Cimate politics are a perfect example: The predominant
factor is the energy policy, which in turn has its effects
on the use of resources such as metals and semimetals.
Is there enough silicon in the Earth’s crust to produce all
the solar panels for an appropriately increasing generation of renewable energy? And what about the availability
of lithium for all the batteries required for energy storage
and electromobility?
Our strategy paper analyses the interrelation between the
need for critical resources and their availability and proposes basic lines of action to encourage innovation and
a political tool set to create the proper environment – all
with a view to conceiving a comprehensive sustainable
growth strategy which is indispensable if we are to continue living on our one planet. We hope to contribute to
that goal, knowing full well that it is the implementation
of that strategy by the various players and the quality of
cooperation between them that will be decisive.
It is the first and obvious conclusion from our research
that on the subject of resources Switzerland must maintain an open and internationally well connected economy and that it is precisely this cohesion with the global
economy that produces massive advantages for our
country.
Let us go forward on the long and difficult, but
manageable way towards a sustainable development – it
is a hugely rewarding endeavour!
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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SUMMARY
Making available the amount of energy needed to
maintain the living standard we enjoy in Switzerland is,
together with the production of food, the main driver of
global climate change and the rapid disappearance of forests, natural land and biodiversity. The Ecological Footprint which reflects land use and climate change suggests
that just to maintain current living standards around the
globe we would need more than a planet and a half.
Similar conclusions can be drawn from the Stockholm
Resilience Center’s study on “Planetary Boundaries”.
The transgression of global boundaries of sustainability is most obvious with respect to biodiversity,
the contamination of water with nitrogen and phosphor
resulting from agriculture, the intensified land use and
climate change.
It is these developments that we must focus on when we
strive for a sustainable use of natural resources. In addition to the availability of raw materials like gravel, metal
ores and crude oil we have to pay attention to ”functions” such as e.g. climate stability, protection against
damaging radiation through diminishing ozon layers,
solar emissions, the capacity to absorb pollutants and the
stability of biodiverse habitats including their capacity to
regenerate” (Schütz, inter alia 2008), The latter functions
count among “natural resources” as the term is used by
Helmut Schütz und Stefan Bringezu of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy:
"Natural Ressources comprehend in a wider sense
all those functions of the ecosystem Earth and of the
solar system which are or can be directly or indirectly
utilized by man or constitute the basis for man’s economic activities, his co-existence with nature and thus his
survival." (Schütz, inter alia 2008).
It follows from the above definition, from the swisscleantech Charta and its definition of sustainable development,
as well as from an ethical imperative that the fulfilment
of the needs of future generations must be guaranteed
what the term «sustainable use of natural resources»
signifies. Natural resources must be utilized in a manner
to allow the satisfaction of the needs of present as well as
future generations, while the other living creatures on our
planet are granted equal rights to an adequate habitat.
Much of today’s use of natural resources is far from
sustainable; to improve the situation, we will have to
proceed more intelligently. While population growth is
one of the reasons for excessive exploitation, the insatiable hunger for resources of individuals, which tends to
grow continuously, is even more detrimental. More steel,
more concrete, more cars, and more electronic devices
are being produced, and all these goods are an expression of our surging living standard. And thus more sand,
more metals and more fossile fuels are being extracted
and disposed of every year.
The depletion of these raw materials and the production of goods have direct and indirect consequences on
other resources. For making steel we not only need iron
ore and coal, we also use up the land from which they
are extracted and we emit greenhouse gases, resulting
in climate change, which in turn reduces agricultural
production, causes shortages of water and further loss
of biodiversity. As a result, additional arable land has to
be created at the expense of forests, leading to even less
biodiversity and ultimately to the loss of valuable land.
In turn this reinforces the ‚greenhouse effect‘ and reduces the productivity of the soil. These trends are mutually
reinforcing and the adverse development is thus far from
linear: the destruction of essential resources is spiraling
out of control – Planet Earth needs a reversal of these
trends sooner rather than later.
To maintain our existing quality of life which we
owe to the successful build-up of our economy, we need
a paradigm change in the form of a “Clean Transformation”
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
While today there still are many sceptics who disregard
the obvious urgency and systemic nature of the required
changes, some improvements are already in the offing.
Building the right regulatory framework and introducing
smart technology will produce solutions to the resources
conundrum in the same way as progress was made in
climate and energy policies. The industrial and postindustrial developments are examples of our willingness
to overcome this scepticism, to consider and – if we
recognize the benefits – enact change.
At the beginning of the last century horse-drawn carriages were replaced by automobiles because they were less
noisy and a great deal cleaner than the equipment they
replaced. Today, those automobiles’ combustion engines
are giving way to electric motors, which are less noisy
and cleaner. The progression from horse power to the
combustion engine and then to the electric motor produced great economic opportunities, most of all for companies with a sustainable development strategy designed to
offer new, integral and therefore more efficient solutions
to technical challenges.
The opportunities extend way beyond the manufacturing
of machines or batteries: electromobility requires new
charging stations and, in order to effectively conserve
natural resources, electric energy from renewable sources;
the development and installation of solar panels and
wind power stations in turn opens an entirely new theater of economic opportunities, and so on. Cost savings
from new technologies encourage progressive entrepreneurs and then entire industries to adapt their business
models and adopt processes consuming less of our finite
resources. The crucial issue is a decoupling of prosperity
from intensive consumption of resources by means of
higher efficiency: A reduced but more efficient use of natural resources will bring about higher benefits and thus
enhance rather than reduce our living standard.
A sea change in the use of natural resources, namely a reduction to a level sustainable in the long term,
will guarantee higher living standards than a continuation of the current trend of resource consumption.
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This reversal in the use of natural resources, just like the
turnaround in our energy policy, is an important requisite
of a qualitative growth of our economy, brought about
by enhancing economic performance without negatively
affecting the ecology and our society. The study “The
future, Swiss made”, published by swisscleantech in 2014,
sets out how such growth can be achieved. There are
practically only benefits and no drawbacks for Switzerland and its economy: With its highly developed industrial and service economy, its educational infrastructure,
its innovative research and manufacturing hubs, Switzerland is predestined to develop optimal solutions for
a new resource strategy and help implementing them
around the globe. Realizing these opportunities by
accepting a pioneering role in developing cutting edge
technologies and opening the world’s market for Swiss
companies will enable us to secure our current prosperity
way into the future.
The subject matter of this strategy paper is an analysis
of the current state of resource consumption and of our
chances to change to a sustainable pattern. We begin by
discussing raw materials including energy and biomass,
production factors such as land and water and finally
the functions of the ecosystem, focussing on clean air, a
stable climate, maintained biodiversity and the use of
renewable energy. On this basis, with due regard to mutual dependencies in the use of various natural resources, we have worked out five action plans with practical
recommendations on how a sustainable use of resources
is to be achieved.
The five spheres of activities comprise first the use of
land and water and based thereon the provision of food,
wood and plant fibre, as these are essential for the preservation of the ecosystem and biodiversity. Secondly we
turn to the production of (fossile as well as renewable)
energy and of mineral as raw materials. Energy generation in its current form is the predominant cause of climate
change, and the consumption of resources is a major
contributor to deforestation which also adversely affects
biodiversity and climate stability. Mining operations
contribute heavily to air and water pollution. The limited
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
availablity of certain natural resources would obviously
dictate their use in a sustainable manner as well. To conclude we will present a political and economic framework
designed to allow a sustainable mode of consumption of
natural resources until the year 2050.
Data on the physical availability of resources should be
based on their volume. However, available information
on many of the raw materials are extrapolations from
data produced at relatively few measuring points. Availability moreover would also be affected by the cost of extraction and the resulting market price. Experience shows
that in a situation of increased demand and rising prices,
the volume of exploitable reserves increases as well. It is
obvious that extraction cannot grow forever: None of the
raw materials is available in unlimited quantities.
One important factor is the phasing in the use of natural
resources which are transferred from their natural to a
technical lair. Iron ore, for example, is first transformed
into iron, before it is made into steel, then used to produce cars, trains or ships and finally recycled with only
minor losses.
Nevertheless, raw materials and of materials made from
them may become scarce or even critical. When demand
risks to outstrip supply, a resource becomes scarce; if
a raw material is indispensable for certain industrial
activities, it is defined as critical. Being scarce or critical
are not absolute attributes of a resource, but rather result
from the demand in a particular country, in an industry
or during a certain period of time.
Phosphor has its own special place among the critical
elements as an essential component of fertilizers and
crucial element in food production, while polluting
the water when washed out by rain: Quite obviously
phosphor should be eliminated from waste water and
recuperated from the sewage sludge. Other hotly debated
critical resouces are needed in new technologies, e.g.
Indium for flat television screens or solar cells, a group of
minerals called „rare earths“, which are used to produce magnets for our hard disks. Minerals of the „Platin
Group“, used to make jewellery but also in special applications in the chemical industry and in catalyzers, are in
the ‚critical‘ category.
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Further little known critical minerals are needed to
manufacture our electronic appliances. By contrast, the
theory propagated in the media that lithium, prominent as an essential element in batteries which secure
our electromobility is a critical resource and important
to the future of our economies, does not hold up under
scientific scrutiny. Nevertheless, many other technologies
without which the turnaround in the use of resources
cannot be achieved, depend on the supply of critical raw
materials. This has prompted us to examine whether the
supply of critical elements needed to install solar panels
and wind generators is sufficient.
Critical resources required for the implementation
of our Cleantech Energy Strategy and to bring climate
change under control are available in sufficient quantity
and will allow us to produce sufficient energy in order to
maintain our high living standards.
Of course this does not mean that we can take the use of
critical resources off our radar screen: There will undoubtedly be materials which will become scarce enough
that substitutes for them or the processes in which they
are used will have to be found, in which endeavor we
have so far not always been successful. In the long run,
an adequate supply of materials produced from natural
resources can only be secured by minimizing the losses
of such materials during their entire life cycle – from
extraction to recycling.
When we use so-called abiotic resources, we will have to
consider that their extraction and application will always
use up other natural resources. Much of the exploitation
of iron ore leads to massive deforestation, which negatively influences biodiversity and is one of the main
causes of global warming. The extraction of resources
affects water supplies by using up a big portion of water
and polluting the rest with elements of heavy metals. Air
pollution is another direct consequence of raw material
extraction, e.g. through the emission of sulphurdioxide. Dangers to the local population’s health, combined
with acidification of soil and water, must be avoided by
implementing a combination of using advanced filter
technology and other ‘cleantech’ processes as well as
implementing a program of reforestation.
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A sustainable exploitation of natural resources
pre-supposes the global application of the pertinent
state-of-the-art technology.
The consumption patterns of two groups of natural resources, namely of fossile fuels and of biotic raw materials, are very different, which differentiates fossile fuels
from non-fossile, abiotic resources in that when they are
used to produce energy, they are chemically transformed
in such a way that a recycling is practically impossible.
The consequence of continuing our present use will put
fossile energy sources out of our reach.
«Peak oil» is the label for the debate on the key drawback of the predominant use of fossile fuels for energy
production which commenced in the 1970ies. Meanwhile
we became aware that availablity is not even the most
acute problem of using this type of energy source, but
rather the emission of CO2 resulting from burning oil, gas
and most of all coal. With a contribution of a whopping 65% to the greenhouse gas emissions, fossile fuels
are the single most important cause of climate change.
Hence we have too much rather than too little oil, gas
and coal available.. A continuation of current patterns
of use will cause temperatures to rise on average 3 to 6
degrees over the coming 80 years. The expected temperature increase in Switzerland, on average 5.2%, would
cause our snowline to rise by close to 900 meters!
Such climate scenarios harbour great and largely incalculable and potentially catastrophic risks. They point to
developments which could cause economic damage infinitely higher than the costs of reducing climate change
to a more tolerable level. To keep such risks and costs in
check, the world community has agreed to the so-called
“2° Global Warming Limit”, and Switzerland has written
this target into its law on CO2 output. The 2° limit means
that by the end of this century, the global average temperature should not have increased more than 2°C when
compared to the temperatures during the pre-industrial
period. The consequence for the here and now: the
average temperature may not rise by more than 1.15° from
today’s level.
That from the perspective of preserving natural resources
far-reaching measures have to be taken by countries like
Switzerland is thus clearly established, which immediately brings the phenomenon of „grey“ emissions
(emissions which Swiss consumption causes outside the
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country) in play, be it in the field of animal feed or even
toys made of plastic. Targets set for achieving a stable
climate (and the way to get there) must involve national
emissions as well as those generated by imports and net
exports.
To keep climate change at a tolerable level, only
one-third of oil, coal and gas reserves known today may
be burned.
We would have to expect great resistance. Commodity
traders nowadays have on their books fossile fuels that
cannot be used if the global warming target of 2° is to be
maintained to the tune of an estimated USD 22bn. This
bubble resulting from speculative behavior and commonly labelled „Carbon Bubble“ is to be taken seriously, as it
should be clear that any investment in further exploration of fossile fuels is a “stranded investment”. No wonder
more and more investors opt out of investments in those
companies, a welcome trend for the maintenance of
which the outcome of the UNFCCC climate conference
COP21 in Paris will be decisive.
To keep climate change in check, not only CO2 emissions
from energy production, but also agricultural greenhouse
gas emissions, i.e. nitrous oxide resulting from the use of
fertilizer and methan gas from animals and rice productions, have to be reduced by more than 50%, as all these
sources contribute no less than 25% to today’s greenhouse gas production. Across all sectors, global emissions
of all greenhouse gases have to be reduced by about 70%
and thereafter gradually wound down to zero at the turn
of the century. When we compare this with the most
diligent countries’ declarations of intent in the context of
UNFCCC, we see a significant gap to what would be necessary to reach a properly set objective.
The reduction targets of the countries with an extensive
history of industrialization are less than what they should
be, and the emerging countries are intent to let their
emissions rise to excessive levels for way too many more
years.
If we are to keep within the 2° Global Warming
Limit, we need more ambitious targets to be set by
Switzerland as well as globally to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Burning fossile fuels for energy production has to be
reduced to nil by 2050. For Switzerland that entails a reduction of their use by around 8% every year if we are to
achieve a 95% reduction by 2050. The 8% are to be applied to Swiss consumption resulting from burning fossile
fuels abroad, which is about double the quantity burned
in Switzerland; a large part of the emissions caused by
Swiss consumption is occurring abroad where goods for
Swiss consumption are produced.
The implementation of the Cleantech Energy Strategy is apt to reduce the volume of fossile fuels burned to
a sustainable level.
Thanks to the production and use of renewable energy
rather than coal, oil and natural gas, the most important
sources of air pollution can be eliminated. Global air
pollution is causing the death of several million human
beings every year. The WHO is warning against concentrations of pollutants in the air which often are 5 to 10
times the permissible limit, and in many instances the
excesses are even greater, as e.g. in New Delhi where
the concentration of respirable dust is 15 times over the
ceiling.
In Switzerland the situation is somewhat better. Nevertheless several thousand people die early every year from
air pollution, the main causes being the emission of smut
by diesel engines used primarily in passenger cars and
light trucks and the emission of carcinogens and stickoxides at two times the permissible levels. Goods imported
into Switzerland cause an amount of air pollution abroad
equal to that caused by their production inside the
country.
As already mentioned, about one quarter of the global
greenhouse emission is caused by deforestation. At the
same time agriculture uses most of the water and land
and contributes, together with deforestation, the lion’s
share to the loss of biodiversity and its benefits to the
ecology. On the other hand, agricultural land and forests
supply biotic raw materials, comprising food based on
plants and animals as well as wood and other bioenergy
fuels and textile fiber from wool, cotton and jute.
Biotic raw materials – as opposed to metals and sand –
are renewable, and on that basis they can be utilized in
a sustainable manner if we make sure that the productivity of the soil is not thereby reduced, as otherwise
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only a portion of these resources would qualify as renewable in the first place.
According to UNEP the global limit of sustainable use
of plants as raw material has not yet been reached.
However, if this assessment is remade on the basis that
other species are allowed more than just the absolute
minimum necessary for survival, the limit would have
been reached already. And if current trends continue,
even the UNEP’s current limit will be exceeded in five to
ten years. One of the most important drivers of overuse
of raw materials from plant is the trend of increasing
consumption of meat. Approximately 60% of the biotic
material harvested worldwide (meaning wood, fiber and
food plants) and almost 80% of edible biotic material
are used to feed farm animals. And these figures do not
even include the grass and other plants cows and sheep
eat directly from the ground. Each ton of animal feed
produces only around 100kg of milk and 40kg of meat,
and thus the production of milk and meat uses most of
the land available for agriculture. In addition, these farm
animals contribute significantly to man-made climate
change through their emission of methan and ammonia
gases.
Agricultural plant production in Switzerland and around
the world is facing a conflict of objectives between
reaching high short term production targets thanks to
the use of fertilizers and pest management and lower
production targets to allow for the use of methods that
preserve the productive capacity of soil as well as water,
which is indispensable in the longer term and is more favorable to biodiversity, which in turn improves soil quality. Moreover, reduced use of fertilizer reduces emissions
of nitrous oxides and bolsters climate preservation. The
resulting reduction on agricultural production would have
to be compensated by lower milk and meat production
and consumption, rather than by expanding agricultural
land through deforestation. At the same time, this would
contribute to a reduction in the volume of animal feed
imported into Switzerland, as the importation of biotic
material should, as we already have pointed out, be cut
in half in order to be sustainable.
Food waste, today equal to almost one third of
food production, could be massively reduced thanks to
better logistics and information provided to consumers.
Moreover, the consumption of animals has to be reduced
by 20 to 50% to be sustainable and ensure a sufficient
supply of sustainably produced food.
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Agricultural production accounts for the largest share of
land use, but forests and built-up areas have to be mentioned as well. There is a rapid transformation of forests
to areas used for housing and agriculture, which brings
with it an annual loss of 24bn tons of fertile land by
erosion, equivalent to more than twice the 13bn tons of
biomass harvested annually. Deforestation causes loss of
biodiversity and reduces the potential of forests to ensure
sufficient wood supply, protection against floods and
retention of carbon. Fortunately, de-forestation is not
a problem in Switzerland, as forests are even growing.
Moreover, Swiss forests set an example with their quality
of management and sustainable use of land and the
sustainable production of wood as an important biotic
raw material.
Global de-forestation has to be stopped as soon
as possible. While Swiss forests, on the other hand, are
used in a sustainable manner, they could even produce
more wood in the future.
By contrast, the proportion of built-up areas at the
expense of agricultural land is growing rapidly. If this
trend continues, our agricultural production and the
availability of biotic materials will decrease. Intensifying production to compensate for these losses would be
to the detriment of biodiversity, which suffers from the
construction of houses and roads in Switzerland’s low
lands to an extent that already now puts its contribution
to a functioning ecosystem in jeopardy. Urban sprawl
always leads to increased mobility with its own costs and
negative consequences.
Urban sprawl in Switzerland has to be discontinued immediately. Additional need for buildings and
infrastructure has to be satisfied by a higher density of
human settlements. The global trend to extend built-up
areas has to be halted.
Let’s look at the significance of the global loss of biodiversity. Today, each year sees the loss of a hundred
to a thousand per million of existing species. That is
1000 times a natural attrition free of human influence.
The cost of this gigantic loss goes into the trillions of
US dollars per annum. To guarantee a sustainable food
supply and other ecological benefits, as well as for the
ethical reasons referred to earlier, we have to reverse
this fatal trend, first and foremost by putting an end to
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de-forestation and a by a substantially more ecological
agriculture, using less fertilizer and chemicals for plant
protection and restructuring farming into smaller units.
Last but by far not least we wish to point to water as a
natural resource. Fresh water is primarily used for agricultural production and in turn is polluted by nitrates
and other chemicals. Global availability of water is not,
for the time being, put in question; however, there are
enormous regional differences. Whereas in our areas
water is available in abundant quantities, other areas
suffer from scarcity. Climate change has already resulted in changed patterns of rainfall, and many areas are
threatened by reduced access to water. This is true even
for Switzerland, though in spite of climate change scarcity
is rare and limited to local conditions.
Les satisfactory is the quality of water, in Switzerland as
well as in other parts of the world. Even with the more
recent construction of water treatment facilities and other
improvements, the concentration of pollutants in many
of our lakes and rivers is significantly above a critical value. Agriculture, damaging chemicals and hormonal substances from households are the culprits. Water pollution
is an even more important topic internationally where
the pollution of the seas, especially with phosphoric and
nitric elements, is an added problem.
By importing goods – most of all animal feed – Switzerland contributes to these problems: the production
abroad for importation into Switzerland using up 4,5
times the quantity of water used in domestic production.
A great deal of this overuse is due to pollution, and the
application of sustainable methods would reduce the use
of water by a factor 5.
Water is available in abundance and in good
quality in Switzerland, whereas we consume water at excessive levels abroad through our imports. By a lowering
of agricultural production and by importing less animal
feed we could reduce total water consumption five times,
down to a sustainable level.
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed Cleantech Resource Strategy outlines a
reversal of the trend in resource consumption. A number
of players are already well under way or ready to change
tack. Others are sceptical vis-à-vis the changes that are
needed. It appears that the sceptics fail to realize that
profitable economic activity and high living standards
without sustainability are not possible in the long run.
While economic performance – including the increasing
costs of damage repair – could grow a while more, this
would be at the expense of lower living standards. The
necessary paradigm change requires us to put a price
tag on the undesirable effects which cause long term
damage. Those emitting gases which damage the climate, reduce biodiversity or the quality of soil, or pollute
the water, will have to pay an appropriate price. Such a
price includes all external costs resulting from the use of
natural resources, so that the free market of goods and
services, based on these all-inclusive prices, would automatically ensure the optimal use of our resources.
One pragmatic method is the use of putting a tax on activities which have a damaging effect. Today, by contrast,
an excessive consumption of resources is very often even
subsidized. This is most obvious in the use of non-renewable fuels in energy production and associated technology. According to IMF 2015 fossile fuels are subsidised to
the tune of USD 5,3 trillion, equivalent to 6,5% of global
economic output.
The internalization of the cost of natural resources
in the pricing system — such as levying taxes on damaging activities without increasing the public expenditure
quota — and the abolition of subsidies on the consumption of resources is imperative.
Internalized costs promote technological innovation.
Investment in infrastructure will be based on the best
available technologies and avoid a lock-in as a result of
bad investment choices. Simultaneously, proper pricing
will address another important problem: the “rebound
effect”. Increased efficiency can cause a rise in demand,
e.g. the car is more efficient and thereby tempts the driver to drive longer distances. Higher costs may also have
a rebound effect, but the size of the effect will be much
lower.
10
When we refer to innovation, we do not merely have
inventions and patents in mind, rather we propagate
their practical application. Investment in in research and
development has to be complemented by investment
in implementation, in Switzerland as well as in other
countries.
Sustainable economic growth requires innovations
as well as the concrete and comprehensive realization
of today’s knowledge and know-how without rebound
effect.
In Switzerland, “habitat” and “mobility” are responsible for an excessively large portion of the consumption
of natural resources. Innovation in these segments will
have a correspondingly high effect. Concepts, technologies, construction elements and materials that conserve resources are available today, but they need to be
applied more broadly. They would greatly benefit from
an internalization of the cost of using natural resources
as described above. Until the underlying concept of „full
costing” will have been generally accepted, we need to
apply accompanying measures such as standards and targeted subsidies. The overall objective should be to avoid
misguided decisions apt to stall a more sustainable use
of natural resources over decades.
Each new home not built as a “Plus Energy House“
and each automobile produced which is not powered by
renewable energy is an opportunity missed.
The quantification of greenhouse gas emissions points to
a central problem, namely that the use of natural resources caused by consumption in Switzerland occurs predominantly outside Switzerland’s borders. Hence we have
to accept responsibility for minimizing the use of resources abroad as well. To accomplish this, we do not have
to wall off the outside world and stop importing, but
rather encourage Swiss companies with activities abroad
to maximize the benefits of the use of resources in the
process. It means that Switzerland will have to contribute
its own proper share of the responsibility for managing
the use of natural resources. We can do this by setting an
example in the context of international negotiations on
climate change, or by promoting the transfer of knowledge and know-how with respect to clean technologies,
SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
or by supporting the reduction of trade barriers for agricultural products. Ensuring that companies domiciled in
Switzerland pay an adequate price for their use of natural
resources in emerging and developing economies is also
part of this role model function.
The experience of the last forty or so years would suggest
that without the proper legal framework in Switzerland
and abroad in place, a sustainable use of natural resources cannot be accomplished. The appropriate framework
has to be defined by the economies, the government
services and the societies of civilized nations in joint
cooperation. The needs of humanity and the recognition
that sustainability is a basic requirement to guarantee
the satisfaction of those needs are the crux of the matter.
While the economic sector and government services are
better organized and therefor have greater influence,
respect for the ethics of civil society is an indispensable
prerequisite in achieving a sustainable development.
Switzerland should assume a pioneering role in this
context as well. The good news: it is possible; the bad
news: we have hardly begun to contribute our fair share
and have to speed up the implementation of a Cleantech
Strategy worthy of its name before it is too late.
The complete Cleantech Resource Strategy is available
under:
www.swisscleantech.ch/ressourcenstrategie
11
Zurich
Zug
PGM
Lithium
Iron
Aluminium
Fossile Resources
Biomass
Lucerne
The two illustrations on the title and the last page show the volume of the world wide reserves of cretain metarials and resources in
form of a sphere. PGM: Platin group metals
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