Water, land, materials, and emissions for providing decent living standards around the world

Vélez-Henao, J.A.; Streeck, J.; Kikstra, J.; Pauliuk, S.

Water, land, materials, and emissions for providing decent living standards around the world

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Vélez-Henao, J.A., Streeck, J., Kikstra, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9405-1228, & Pauliuk, S. (2026). Water, land, materials, and emissions for providing decent living standards around the world. Ecological Economics 240 e108819. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108819.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108819

Abstract

The safe and just space for humanity is a vision for a sustainable economy, where all people have decent access to services so that social requirements are met (floor), and the use of natural resources does not drive critical Earth system processes beyond Holocene conditions (ceiling). Using the concept of decent living standards (DLS) to quantify the resource implications of social requirements (floor) globally, we estimate the average in-use stocks, as well as associated annual natural resource use and related greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that are required to provide a DLS in 176 countries. Our results suggest that the per capita resources and emissions associated with a DLS differ considerably between countries, depending on their socioeconomic and technological context. With renewable energies, a reduction in meat consumption and active mobility (efficient scenario), the following average per capita DLS impacts results: materials: 2–5 t/(cap*yr), GHG emissions: 1–4 t CO2 eq./(cap*yr), land occupation: 1424–6615 m2/cap, and water use: 98–328 m3 /(cap*yr). The in-use stocks in the form of materials required to provide a DLS range from 26 to 29 t/cap. Closing the current DLS gap globally in the most efficient form requires resources equivalent to 7 % of global materials use, 1 % of GHG emissions, 2 % of land occupation, and 2 % of water consumption in 2015.

Item Type:	Article
Research Programs:	Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE) Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE) > Integrated Assessment and Climate Change (IACC) Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE) > Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions (TISS)
Depositing User:	Luke Kirwan
Date Deposited:	29 Oct 2025 09:27
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2025 09:27
URI:	https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/20955

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