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CLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hans-Jörg Althaus, Jörg Duschmalé and Nicolas Fries Water Air SWISSCLEANTECH RESOURCE STRATEGY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 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. 3 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 4 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. 5 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. 6 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 7 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 8 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 9 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 © swisscleantech, July 2015 swisscleantech Neuengasse 20 3011 Berne +41 58 580 0809 Version 1.0