Sustainable Development - MONETDecoupling - Consumption of raw materials
Material and energy flows must be optimised so that natural resources can be maintained in the long run.
One of the main goals of sustainable development is to bring about a gradual dematerialisation of our economy so as to lessen the environmental impact of human and economic activities. The Total Material Requirement (TMR) of a country is the sum of all direct flows (domestically extracted or imported raw materials like minerals and biomass) used by the national economy as well as all indirect flows (unutilised domestic extraction or hidden flows associated with products imported into Switzerland). Material intensity is calculated by dividing the TMR by the Gross Domestic Product.
One of the main goals of sustainable development is to bring about a gradual dematerialisation of our economy so as to lessen the environmental impact of human and economic activities. The Total Material Requirement (TMR) of a country is the sum of all direct flows (domestically extracted or imported raw materials like minerals and biomass) used by the national economy as well as all indirect flows (unutilised domestic extraction or hidden flows associated with products imported into Switzerland). Material intensity is calculated by dividing the TMR by the Gross Domestic Product.
Material intensity decreases.
- Between 1990 and 2010 material intensity decreased.
- The dematerialisation observed between 1990 and 1996 primarily reflects a lack of economic growth and a strong cutback in activities of the construction sector.
- In 2010, the total material requirement adds up to 340 million tonnes or 44 tonnes per capita.
Sources: FSO: EW-MFA; National Accounts
Last updated: 29.01.2010