At a recent seminar in Copenhagen, European environmental experts discussed how to de-couple economic growth from exploitation of resources and damaging impacts on the environment.

De-coupling has come into focus in international environmental work in recent years, as there is a large political wish for ensuring economic growth without damaging the environment. The European Topic Centre on Waste and Material Flows and the European Environment Agency organised a seminar in November on de-coupling resource use and waste management from economic growth. The seminar came up with ideas for how national authorities, industry, the Commission, and the EEA can work concretely with de-coupling, says Birgit Munck-Kampmann, Topic Centre Manager. She points to four conclusions from the seminar:


Concrete targets should be agreed
To achieve de-coupling, it is important to set targets and to combine different policy measures in policy packages or mixes that can make consumption and production patterns more sustainable.
Information on progress towards de-coupling
The EEA and the Topic Centre should play a key role in providing information to decision-makers on de-coupling, in particular through the use of indicators.
Indicators on de-coupling should be identified
The following papers are available from the European Topic Centre on Waste and Material Flows' website as follows:

De-coupling waste generation from economic growth - what are the trends in EU and Accession Countries?
Presentation by Mrs Birgit Munck-Kampmann, Manager, European Topic Centre on Waste and Material Flows (ETC/WMF) 0.3 MB
http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/bmk

De-coupling material use from economic growth - what are the trends in EU and Accession countries? Presentation by Dr. Stefan Bringezu, Head of Industrial Ecology Research at the Wuppertal Institute, ETC/WMF 4.3 MB http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/sb

De-coupling in the EU: Implementing measures in the context of EU environmental policies? Presentation by Mr Klaus Koegler, Principal Administrator, Sustainable Resources Unit, DG Environment, European Commission 73 kB http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/kk

De-coupling in OECD countries: What are the strategies and the measures to address the outlook? Presentation by Ms. Helen Mountford, Counsellor, Environment Directorate, OECD 0.4 MB
http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/hm

De-coupling in the EU: a DG Enterprise perspective. Presentation by Chris Allen, Administrator, Environmental Aspects of Enterprise Policy, DG Enterprise, European Commission 55 kB
http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/ca

De-coupling and waste: industry as a partner for sustainable development. Presentation by Mr Jeff Cooper, Chair of ISWA SCT, International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) 1.4 MB
http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/jc

De-coupling resource use and waste generation from economic growth in industry: Example from Rockwool International A/S. Presentation by Dr. Peter Binderup Hansen, Project Manager, Materials Science, Rockwool International A/S 0.4 MB
http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/pb

A scientific perspective on the future role of EEA and ETC/WMF in providing information on de-coupling. Presentation by Prof. Bernd Bilitewski, Technical University of Dresden, member of EEA Scientific Committee
http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/bb

Chair's summary
http://waste.eionet.eu.int/seminars/de_coupling/presentations/summery
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