Approaches to Resource Conservation in the Context of Post-Growth Concepts
This publication focuses on the role of economic performance and its future development in wealthy countries such as Germany with respect to compliance with planetary boundaries. To improve our understanding of this controversial topic, we introduce the debate in a systematic way, presenting analyses on numerous aspects, pointing out open questions and finally deriving guidelines and options for political action.
A particular focus is on the relevance of the post-growth debate for resource policy. To this end, the resource relevance of selected instruments that are frequently proposed in post-growth concepts was examined. In addition, proposals were developed for the further development of the Germans Federal Government's Resource Efficiency Programme.
What the “target state” of a resource-efficient (post-growth) society looks like in detail cannot, of course, be formulated with certainty. The report proposes various constitutive core elements: renewable energy supply, closed cycle economy, preference shift towards resource-light consumption, and stronger activation of intangible sources of wealth.
