International Industrial Ecology Day 2021

Accumulation of materials into the socio-economic system has become a significant contributor to the rising environmental impacts of human civilization. In my presentation, I would introduce that this very process is fueled by several economic processes and institutions, like elite savings, high returns on capital, or weak spatial planning practices. Therefore, towards better understanding and well-targeted policy intervention, I attempt to display the (material) stock-flow-service nexus in relation with its counterparts in the economic sub-system (wealth, capital stock, income/expenditures, depreciation, necessities).

By taking stock of the elements of the nexus both in material and in monetary terms, the lack of a material correspondent for the savings can be revealed. Unsurprisingly, this environmental-economic interface of the stock-flow-service nexus exhibits that savings perform as a key for a just sustainability transition. Thus, I would argue that the policy should reduce returns on stock-intensive investments. Finally, I intend to outline an appropriate environmental policy mix that might be politically and socially acceptable and ecologically feasible.