Integrating resource efficiency into climate mitigation policy in the EU

The 11th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) was held at Leeds University on 30 June – 3 July 2015, with around 500 people attending. Kate Scott presented ongoing CIE-MAP research demonstrating how a greater integration of resource efficiency with climate change mitigation policy can contribute substantially to abating EU consumption-driven emissions. Current climate policy fails to address the link between resource consumption and embodied emissions, which can offset domestic emissions reductions due to emissions embodied in imports. Recognising the synergies between material consumption and emissions, and the importance of international trade in the environmental performance of countries, our research analyses the emissions associated with resource consumption in the EU: how much originate outside the EU; how many are captured within existing EU climate policy; how much additional emissions could EU climate policy capture by extending its energy efficiency policies to address the embodied impacts of products; and how much of the EU’s legislative emissions reductions could these deliver.

Download Kate’s presentation here.