DOCSLIB.ORG

An Overview of Istat's Environmental Accounting in the Light of Eu

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
An Overview of Istat's Environmental Accounting in the Light of Eu An Overview of Istat’s Environmental Accounting in the Light of Eu Methodological Achievements Una visione d’insieme della contabilità ambientale dell’Istat alla luce di avanzamenti metodologici a livello europeo Cesare Costantino Istat, Direzione Centrale Contabilità Nazionale, Via Ravà 150, Roma, [email protected] Riassunto: La contabilità ambientale è una disciplina sviluppata nell’ambito degli organismi internazionali in relazione alle esigenze dello sviluppo sostenibile; essa trae origine dalla contabilità nazionale e si occupa in maniera sistematica e comprensiva del rapporto economia-ambiente. Una pluralità di conti, standardizzati in ambito europeo, consente di focalizzare aspetti specifici dell’interazione tra economia e ambiente, permettendo di confrontare i fatti economici e i fatti ambientali correlati attraverso un sistema coerente di definizioni e classificazioni. La produzione dell’Istat risponde alle esigenze conoscitive del paese e degli organismi internazionali, in particolare comunitari; in linea con la strategia europea per la contabilità ambientale, essa è a regime per quanto concerne la MFA, la NAMEA e l’EPEA, i conti a più elevata priorità. Keywords: economy-environment interaction, SEEA, DPSIR, MFA, NAMEA, EPEA. 1. Sustainable development strategy and environmental accounting Sustainable development calls for a variety of changes in the functioning of society. Innovations are needed involving different aspects such as e.g. production and consumption patterns and mechanisms for determining social choices. New statistical information is needed as well, to support decisions by institutions, enterprises and individuals, being clear that it is essential to integrate the institutional, economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. In Italy the importance of integrating economic and environmental aspects has been emphasized in the political agenda since the ’nineties. According to the National plan for the implementation of Agenda XXI1, setting up a national system of environmental accounting is one of the actions needed in order to actually implement a strategy for sustainable development: this new tool includes, in a broad sense, both a new way of defining policies and a new kind of statistical information on the interactions between economy and environment. Environmental accounting is also mentioned – specifically understood as a system of integrated environmental and economic accounts within official statistics – among the main tools to achieve ecologically sustainable development in the Environmental action strategy for sustainable development2. Parallel to the action taken by the central government through the definition of the above mentioned strategies, a political debate is going on in the Italian Parliament on a 1 Adopted in 1993 by the Inter-Ministry Committee for Economic Planning (CIPE). 2 Adopted by CIPE in 2002. – 29 – bill3 which aims at introducing the integration of economy and environment in political decisions at the different government levels. It is envisaged, in particular, that the central and the local governments regularly adopt ecological sustainability planning tools together with their traditional economic planning tools; the former should be supported by environmental accounts to be produced within the National Statistical System (Sistan), in the same way as the latter are currently supported by the economic national accounts as far as the national level is concerned. In a sustainable development perspective, then, there is a strong demand for a new kind of statistical information, which is characterised by having specific contents in terms of integration of environmental and economic aspects and by being part of official statistics. As far as the latter point is concerned, the debate on the bill on environmental accounting highlights, among other things, how important it is that the statistical information used by policy makers and the one available for the general public be the same. The environmental accounts developed by Istat are particularly appropriate to meet this demand of statistical information, being part of official statistics. These accounts, in fact, have to comply with quality standards concerning both the product and the production process; in particular, they are supposed to be transparent4, complete5, flexible6, referred to a coherent framework7, readily available to users8. Furthermore, they are supposed to be produced on a regular basis. 2. Background frameworks, accounting tools and value added of environmental accounting The accounting system developed by Istat to measure the interactions between economy and environment builds on two types of background frameworks: a) an analytical framework, so as to have a proper way to look at the real world under examination; b) a statistical accounting framework, so as to have a well established reference to organise the different pieces of statistical information. The DPSIR model, explained in Figure 1, is seen in this context as a significant representation of the economy-environment interaction circuit. It is therefore adopted as the background analytical framework, and the contents of the accounting system are specified in a way that reflects such model. For the statistical accounting framework, on the other side, the starting reference is the SNA9, which provides, among other things, general guidelines for satellite accounting, with a special focus on environmental accounting10. 3 See Giovanelli et alii (2000). 4 Through dissemination of meta-information. 5 Information that is partial is likely not to be neutral. 6 Suitable for use in different contexts. 7 Through classifications, schemes and concepts as much as possible common to the various areas covered. 8 Keeping information hidden or difficult to access is not providing a good service to the community. 9 United Nations (1993a). 10 See chapter XXI. – 30 – Figure 1: The DPSIR model and the economy-environment interaction circuit Driving forces Pressures Anthropic activities and processes generate Direct stresses from the anthropic system that cause pressures: production on the natural environment: release of (agriculture, industry, part of polluting substances (emissions to air, to transports…), consumption, water, waste...), radiation emissions, recreation outside the economic intake of natural resources, use of soil, system… eliminate, other changes of the natural environment reduce, modify, prevent influence, substitute, modify remove restorate, Responses influence State Actions of the anthropic system to solve environmental problems: pollution prevention Conditions and tendencies in the and reduction activities, economic natural environment: air, water and “environmental damage” prevention and soil quality, global temperatures reduction, sustainable use of resources...° compensate, evolution pattern... mitigate stimulate, Impacts provoke, ask for cause Effects on the anthropic system due to changes in the state of the natural environment: negative consequences on human health, economic loss in production activities, floods...§ In satellite environmental accounting the integration of economy and environment is realised by considering certain areas of interest and by making use of certain accounting tools for the statistical representation of the relevant phenomena. A simplified overview of the areas of interest is given in Table 1, where the phenomena taken into account are also classified according to the DPSIR concept. These are dealt with also in other systems of statistical information on the environment, but what is special here is the rationale followed, which is based on the concept of natural patrimony, thus paralleling the hand-made capital concept in economic accounting. Table 1 – Main areas of interest in environmental accounting Main areas of interest Main phenomena Types of Stage of the phenomena DPSIR circuit Amount and state of the natural Amount of the various natural resources (e.g. Stock State patrimony forests, subsoil assets, etc.); Qualitative state of the various natural resources and environmental media (e.g. forests, air, etc.). Use, degradation and depletion, Intake of natural resources; Flow Pressures of the natural patrimony Emission of pollutants. Defensive expenditures Prevention and reduction of quantitative use of Flow Responses natural resources and of pollution; Restoration of environmental damage. – 31 – Figure 2: Structure of an asset account for a natural asset Structure of an asset account Structure of an asset adjusted for a natural asset account Opening stock [+] Opening stock [+] Variations Variations Increases [+] Natural Decreases [ - ] Increases [+ ] Closing stock [=] Decreases [ - ] Anthropog.. How it becomes for a natural Increases [+] asset Decreases [ - ] Closing stock [=] Figure 3: Structure of a national accounting matrix including environmental accounts Economic aggregates Environmental Environmental pressures: pressures: intake of pollution natural resources Economic activities and household s s l consumption ls r l sse e ra Fina Wat Mine Emissions Emissions Bioma Production Fossil Fue Employment Atmospheric Value Added Consumption Agriculture Industry Services Household consumption: transport heating other – 32 – Figure 4: Structure of an economy-wide material flow balance sheet Indirect flows associated to imports Imports Exports Raw Materials and semi- manufactured products Net addition to stocks Finished Products Transport infrastructure and buildings Machinery Domestic
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Economy-Wide Material Flow Accounts Handbook – 2018 Edition
    Economy-wide material flow accounts HANDBOOK 2018 edition Economy-wide material flow accounts flow material Economy-wide 2 018 edition 018 MANUALS AND GUIDELINES Economy-wide material flow accounts HANDBOOK 2018 edition Manuscript completed in June 2018 Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of the following information. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018 © European Union, 2018 Reproduction is authorized for non-commercial purposes only, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). Copyright for the photographs: Cover © Vladimir Wrangel/Shutterstock For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. For more information, please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/about/policies/copyright Theme: Environment and energy Collection: Manuals and guidelines The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) only and should not be considered as representative of the official position of the European Commission Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained herein ISBN 978-92-79-88337-8 ISSN 2315-0815 doi: 10.2785/158567 Cat. No: KS-GQ-18-006-EN-N Preface Preface Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) are a statistical accounting framework describing the physical interaction of the economy with the natural environment and the rest of the world economy in terms of flows of materials.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Consumption and Production - Development of an Evidence Base
    Sustainable Consumption and Production - Development of an Evidence Base. Project Ref.: SCP001 Resource Flows Sustainable Consumption and Production - Development of an Evidence Base Appendix to Final Project Report Appendix SCP001 1/196 Projec Ref.: SCP001 Resource Flows May 2006 Appendix SCP001 2/196 Contents I Review of Resource Flow Studies (Section 4) 6 I.1 Specific assessment requirements 6 I.1.1 General Methodological Procedure 6 I.1.2 Assessment Criteria 7 I.1.3 The Scorecard System 12 I.2 Characteristics of General MFA Methodologies 15 I.3 Detailed Assessment Results 19 I.3.1 Economy-wide Material Flow Analysis 19 I.3.2 Bulk Material or Material System Analysis – The Biffaward Series 31 I.3.3 Analysis of Material Flows by Sector: NAMEAs, Generalised Input-Output Models, and Physical Input-Output Analysis 35 I.3.4 Life Cycle Inventories 47 I.3.5 Substance Flow Analysis 54 I.3.6 Hybrid Methodologies 61 I.4 Environmental Impact Assessments 66 I.5 Policy Analysis 73 I.6 Discussion of Study by Van der Voet et al. (2005) 77 II Review of Biffaward Studies (Section 5) 79 II.1 Tables: Detailed assessment criteria, policy agendas, list of Biffaward studies 79 II.2 Assessment notes made for each study 87 III Development of an Indicator for Emissions and Impacts associated with the Consumption of Imported Goods and Services (Section 6) 152 III.1 Specific assessment requirements 152 III.2 Review of existing approaches described in the literature 155 III.2.1 Studies not involving input-output calculations 155 III.2.2 Studies involving input-output
    [Show full text]
  • Indicators Based on Material Flow Analysis/Accounting (MFA) and Resource Productivity
    Indicators based on Material Flow Analysis/Accounting (MFA) and Resource Productivity Yasuhiko Hotta Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan Chettiyappan Visvanathan Asian Institute of Technology 01 Outline of indicators The global consumption of natural resources is soaring, especially in rapidly industrialising economies. This increasing demand is depleting the natural resource stocks and is also a major driver for other environmental problems, including climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Efficient resource use has become an issue for policy makers in their efforts to realise sustainable resource management. Keeping an account of the resource inputs, extraction and consumption, as well as analysing the outputs (as waste) is a fundamental need when planning resource efficiency and conservation. Material Flow Analysis/Accounting (MFA) is an analytical method of quantifying flows and stocks of materials or substances in a well-defined system. MFA can be applied at several levels, such as product, regional and national economy level. The accounting may be directed at selected substances and materials, or at total material input, output and throughput (Figure 1). Nevertheless, all of these analyses use the accounting of material inputs and outputs of processes in a quantitative manner, and many of them apply a system or chain perspective. Factsheets Series on 3R Policy Indicators This project is conducted by the Asia Resource Circulation Policy Research Group, a collaborative research group focused on policy research on 3R promotion in Asia; coordinated by IGES with input from researchers from IGES, IDE-JETRO, NIES, University of Malaya, Asia Institute of Technology, Bandung Institute of Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology and UNCRD.
    [Show full text]
  • Linkage-Based Frameworks for Sustainability Assessment: Making a Case for Driving Force-Pressure-State-Exposure- Effect-Action (DPSEEA) Frameworks
    Sustainability 2009, 1, 441-463; doi:10.3390/su1030441 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Article Linkage-Based Frameworks for Sustainability Assessment: Making a Case for Driving Force-Pressure-State-Exposure- Effect-Action (DPSEEA) Frameworks Bushra Waheed, Faisal Khan * and Brian Veitch Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland, A1B 3X5, Canada; E-Mails: [email protected] (B.W.); [email protected] (B.V.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-709-737-8939; Fax: +1-709-737-4042 Received: 18 June 2009 / Accepted: 5 August 2009 / Published: 10 August 2009 Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to discuss different approaches, identify challenges, and to select a framework for delivering effective sustainability assessments. Sustainable development is an idealistic concept and its assessment has always been a challenge. Several approaches, methodologies and conceptual frameworks have been developed in various disciplines, ranging from engineering to business and to policy making. The paper focuses mainly on various linkage-based frameworks and demonstrates that the driving force-state-exposure-effect-action (DPSEEA) framework can be used to achieve sustained health benefits and environmental protection in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, especially because of its resemblance to the environmental risk assessment and management paradigms. The comparison of linkage- based frameworks is demonstrated through an example of sustainability in a higher educational institution. Keywords: sustainability; life-cycle analysis; multi-criteria decision-making; indices; linkage-based framework; DPSEEA Sustainability 2009, 1 442 1. Introduction 1.1.
    [Show full text]
  • Dematerialization and Capital Maintenance: Two Sides of the Sustainability Coin
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Bartelmus, Peter Working Paper Dematerialization and capital maintenance: Two sides of the sustainability coin Wuppertal Papers, No. 120 Provided in Cooperation with: Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy Suggested Citation: Bartelmus, Peter (2002) : Dematerialization and capital maintenance: Two sides of the sustainability coin, Wuppertal Papers, No. 120, Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie, Wuppertal, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:wup4-opus-13592 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/49124 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Wissenschaftszentrum Kulturwissenschaftliches Nordrhein-Westfalen Institut Institut Arbeit Wuppertal Institut für und Technik Klima, Umwelt, Energie GmbH Peter Bartelmus* Dematerialization and Capital Maintenance: Two Sides of the Sustainability Coin Papers No.
    [Show full text]
  • Methodology and Indicators of Economywide Material Flow Accounting State of the Art and Reliability Across Sources
    RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Methodology and Indicators of Economy-wide Material Flow Accounting State of the Art and Reliability Across Sources M. Fischer-Kowalski, F. Krausmann, S. Giljum, S. Lutter, A. Mayer, S. Bringezu, Y. Moriguchi, H. Schutz¨ , H. Schandl, and H. Weisz Keywords: Summary economy-wide material flow analysis (EW-MFA) This contribution presents the state of the art of economy- industrial ecology wide material flow accounting. Starting from a brief recol- material flow accounting (MFA) lection of the intellectual and policy history of this approach, metabolism we outline system definition, key methodological assumptions, raw material extraction and derived indicators. The next section makes an effort to es- sustainable resource use tablish data reliability and uncertainty for a number of existing multinational (European and global) material flow accounting Supporting information is available (MFA) data compilations and discusses sources of inconsisten- on the JIE Web site cies and variations for some indicators and trends. The results show that the methodology has reached a certain maturity: Coefficients of variation between databases lie in the range of 10% to 20%, and correlations between databases across countries amount to an average R2 of 0.95. After discussing some of the research frontiers for further methodological de- velopment, we conclude that the material flow accounting framework and the data generated have reached a maturity that warrants material flow indicators to complement tradi- tional economic and demographic information
    [Show full text]
  • International Experience in Establishing Indicators for the Circular Economy and Considerations for China
    International Experience in Establishing Indicators for the Circular Economy and Considerations for China Report for the Environment and Social Development Sector Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region, The World Bank Dr. László Pintér1 May 2006 Circular Economy in China: Moving from Rhetoric to Implementation This report has been prepared in support of the work commissioned by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to establish an indicator system that helps monitor progress towards the objectives of the circular economy (CE). For the purposes of this paper I adopt the working definition of CE referenced on NDRC’s Cleaner Production site: “CE may be interlinked manufacturing and service businesses seeking the enhancement of economy and environmental performance through collaboration in managing environmental and resource issues. The theme of the CE concept is the exchange of materials where one facility’s waste, including energy, water, materials - as well as information - is another facility’s input. By working together, the community of businesses seeks a collective benefit that is larger than the sum of the individual benefits each enterprise, industry and community would realize if it intended to optimize its performance on an individual basis (i.e. industrial symbiosis).” (NDRC 2006) CE in many ways resonates with the concept of industrial metabolism, rooted in a systems perspective on the interaction of the natural environment and the anthroposphere. It focuses on the input-output analysis of material flows transformed by production and consumption (e.g., Ayres 1989; Fisher-Kowalski 2003). CE has received growing political prominence in China since the late 1990s as a mechanism to help balance China’s runaway economic development that is increasingly seen as producing unsustainable social and environmental costs and consequences (Zhu 1998, Heymann 2006).
    [Show full text]
  • Toward Social Material Flow Analysis: on the Usefulness of Boundary Objects in Urban Mining Research
    Toward Social Material Flow Analysis: On the Usefulness of Boundary Objects in Urban Mining Research Björn Wallsten Linköping University Post Print N.B.: When citing this work, cite the original article. Original Publication: Björn Wallsten, Toward Social Material Flow Analysis: On the Usefulness of Boundary Objects in Urban Mining Research, 2015, Journal of Industrial Ecology, (19), 5, 742-752. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12361 Copyright: Wiley: No OnlineOpen http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Brand/id-35.html Postprint available at: Linköping University Electronic Press http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-122664 Toward Social Material Flow Analysis – On the Usefulness of Boundary Objects in Urban Mining Research Author: Björn Wallsten* Published in Journal of Industrial Ecology 19(5) 742–752. * Corresponding author. Department of Management and Engineering, Environmental Technology and Management, Linköping University, SE- 581 83 Linköping, Sweden. Tel: +4613285625 Email: [email protected] Summary Material flow analysis (MFA) has been an effective tool to identify the scale of physical activity, the allocation of materials across economic sectors for different purposes and to identify inefficiencies in production systems or in urban contexts. However, MFA relies on the invisibilization of the social drivers of those flows to be able to perform its calculations. In many cases therefor, it remains detached from the for example urban processes that underpin them. This becomes a problem when the purpose of research is to design detailed recycling schemes or the like, for which micro-level practice knowledge on how material flows are mediated by human agency is needed.
    [Show full text]
  • Pilot Project on Material Flow Accounts
    Pilot project on Material Flow accounts Grant Agreement No 71401.2007.014-2007.485 Final report December 2008, Vilnius Project Manager Danguole Krepštulienė Chief specialist, Agriculture and Environment Statistics Division Statistics Lithuania Tel. + 370 5 2364 951 E-mail: [email protected] 2 Introduction The increasing rate of material consumption and the resulting environmental impact threats sustainability and additional measures to make use of natural resources more sustainable are necessary. It was already stressed in the Brundtland Commission Report Our common future (1987) that development can be made far less materially intensive and more economically and environmentally efficient. The Goteborg Council adopted the EU Strategy for sustainable development in the year 2001 and one of the six main priorities was formulated – to manage natural resources more responsibly. Decoupling environmental degradation and resource consumption from economic and social development was considered as a key issue in the strategy. A Thematic strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources was published by the European Commission in 2005. Despite the fact that no target figures have been set at this stage, the strategy aims to reduce the negative environmental impact of resource use at each stage of their life cycle and to replace polluting resources with alternatives. Conservation and management of natural resources is recognized as one of the main priorities in the renewed EU strategy for sustainable development (2007) as well. To improve management and to avoid the overexploitation of natural resources is considered as an overall objective. Enhancing of resource efficiency and the reduction of the use of non-renewable natural resources and related environmental impacts, thereby using renewable resources at the rate that does not exceed their regeneration capacity are formulated as operational targets in the resource consumption chapter of the renewed EU strategy for sustainable development.
    [Show full text]
  • Material Flow Accounting and Analysis (MFA) a Valuable Tool for Analyses of Society-Nature Interrelationships
    Material Flow Accounting and Analysis (MFA) A Valuable Tool for Analyses of Society-Nature Interrelationships Entry prepared for the Internet Encyclopedia of Ecological Economics Friedrich Hinterberger *, Stefan Giljum, Mark Hammer Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI) Schwarzspanierstraße 4/8 A-1090 Wien Tel +43-1-9690728-0 Fax +43-1-9690728-17 * [email protected] August 2003 1. Introduction This paper aims at summarizing methodological foundations and the state of the art in the rapidly emerging field of material flow accounting and analysis (MFA). Sections 1 to 8 give a short description of the method starting with the historical development, presenting a general model of economy-wide material flow analysis, illustrating indicators that can be derived from MFA accounts, and explaining methods for the calculation of so-called “ecological rucksacks”. Section 9 illustrates main areas of applications of MFA, and section 10 describes the shortcomings of this method. Section 11 presents an overview of the state of the art of existing studies. Section 12 discusses selected empirical results taken from recently published MFA studies for the European Union. Finally, section 13 gives an outlook on possible extensions and future methodological development. 2. Historical development of MFA Material flow analysis builds on earlier concepts of material and energy balancing, as introduced, for example, by Ayres (1978).1 The first material flow accounts on the national level have been presented at the beginning of the 1990s for Austria (Steurer, 1992) and Japan (Environment Agency Japan, 1992). Since then, MFA has been a rapidly growing field of scientific interest and major efforts have been undertaken to harmonise the different methodological approaches developed by different research teams.
    [Show full text]
  • Urban Metabolism of Intermediate Cities: the Material Flow Analysis
    Urban Metabolism of Intermediate Cities: The Material Flow Analysis, Hinterlands and the Logistics-Hub Function of Rennes and Le Mans (France) Jean-Baptiste Bahers, Sabine Barles, Mathieu Durand To cite this version: Jean-Baptiste Bahers, Sabine Barles, Mathieu Durand. Urban Metabolism of Intermediate Cities: The Material Flow Analysis, Hinterlands and the Logistics-Hub Function of Rennes and Le Mans (France). Journal of Industrial Ecology, Wiley, 2018, 23 (3), pp.686-698. 10.1111/jiec.12778. halshs-02195025 HAL Id: halshs-02195025 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02195025 Submitted on 26 Jul 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 1 Title: Urban metabolism of intermediate cities: the material flow analysis, hinterlands and 2 the logistics-hub function of Rennes and Le Mans (France) 3 4 Jean-Baptiste Bahers, CNRS researcher, UMR ESO CNRS, Université de Nantes 5 Sabine Barles, professor at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, Géographie-Cités UMR 6 CNRS 7 Mathieu Durand, assistant professor at Université du Maine, UMR ESO CNRS 8 9 Abstract: 10 Although urban metabolism has been the subject of renewed interest for some years, the related 11 studies remain fragmented throughout the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Economy-Wide Material Flow Accounts and Derived Indicators a Methodological Guide
    2000 EDITION Economy-wide material flow accounts and derived indicators A methodological guide THEME 2 Economy EUROPEAN and COMMISSION 2finance A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001 ISBN 92-894-0459-0 © European Communities, 2001 Printed in Luxembourg PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER CONTENTS PREFACE 7 1. INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 Policy demand and uses 9 1.2 Objectives of this Guide 10 2. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION 11 2.1 The material balance principle 11 2.2 Applications 12 2.3 Role in environmental accounting and relation to national accounts 12 3. CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS 15 3.1 General presentation of economy-wide MFA and balances 15 Indirect flows and hidden flows 15 The general material balance scheme 15 3.2 System boundary of the accounts 17 Definition of material inputs and outputs 17 Material stocks and the system boundary 17 Residence versus territory principle 19 3.3 Main categories of flows 20 Terminology 20 Definitions 21 The concept of indirect flows 23 3.4 The material balance 25 3.5 Classification of material inputs 26 Direct material inputs 27 Unused domestic extraction 27 Air inputs 28 3.6 Classification of material outputs 31 Outputs to the environment 31 Exports 31 3.7 Classification of material stocks and stock changes 34 4. INDICATORS DERIVED FROM THE ACCOUNTS 35 4.1 Indicators derivable from the accounts 35 Input indicators 35 Consumption indicators 36 Output indicators 36 4.2 Interpretation and selection of indicators 37 Relation to national accounts aggregates 38 Relation between input and consumption indicators 39 Comparisons across countries and future research needs 41 Preliminary conclusions 43 5.
    [Show full text]