Australia’s Resource Use Trajectories

Heinz Schandl (), Franzi Poldy, Graham Turner (), Thomas Measham, Daniel Walker and Nina Eisenmenger ()
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Nina Eisenmenger: CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Australia

No 2008-08, Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) Working Paper Series from CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems

Abstract: Australia’s export oriented large natural resources sectors of agriculture and mining, the ways in which large scale services such as nutrition, water, housing, transport and mobility, and energy are organized, as well as the consumption patterns of Australia’s wealthy urban households, create a unique pattern of overall resource use in Australia. In an attempt to contribute to a new environmental information system compatible with economic accounts, we represent Australia’s resource use by employing standard biophysical indicators for resource use developed within the OECD context. We are looking at the last three decades of resource use and the economic, social and environmental implications. We also discuss scenarios of future resource use patterns based on a stocks and flows model of the Australian economy. We argue that current extractive economic patterns have contributed to the recent economic boom in Australia but will eventually lead to negative social and environmental outcomes. While there is currently little evidence of political support for changing the economic focus on export-oriented agriculture and mining industries, there is significant potential for improvements in socio-technological systems, and room for more sustainable household consumption.

Keywords: natural resources; resource use patterns and dynamics; physical accounting; resource productivity; social and environmental impacts of resource use; Australia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N57 Q01 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2008-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-ene and nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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