Green Modernization Issues and Sustainability Indicators

Abstract

Climate policy has become a key element of modern economic policy in a world economy facing the challenges of long-run economic growth—associated with a rising use of energy—and the need to limit global warming. A global temperature rise of more than 2° relative to 1850 seems to bring a considerable risk of warming and hence there is a need for enhanced energy efficiency on the demand side and for a rising share of renewables, which, however, cannot be achieved without considerable cost. Innovation is a natural part of the process toward a less CO₂-intensive way of energy generation and it is also necessary for sustainability. The latter is a broad concept and requires that current generations adjust their production and consumption patterns—i.e., lifestyles—in such a way that future generations will have no less favorable prospects for economic prosperity and a healthy life than the current population. In the public debate, as in the discussions in the political system, there is a need to understand the comprehensive challenges of sustainability; to that end, a compact composite indicator for sustainability is needed to signal the current ecological stress and the ecological quality, respectively. Thus, this book is about the relevance of constructing and using a global sustainability indicator (GSI).