Unveiling Wealth

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introductory Statement by the Executive Director of UNEP

   1. Unveiled wealth takes environmental cost into account

      • Klaus Töpfer

      Pages 3-5

3. New Indicators of Sustainability

   1. Unveiling wealth — accounting for sustainability

      • Peter Bartelmus

      Pages 9-38

   2. Discussion

      • Karl Schoer

      Pages 39-47

4. Which indicators, and for what?

   1. On expectations and efforts — some introductory observations

      • Udo E. Simonis

      Pages 51-53

   2. Indicators for sustainable development — a systems analysis approach

      • Hartmut Bossel

      Pages 55-58

   3. Economic, ecological and social indicators

      • Paul Klemmer

      Pages 59-61

   4. Acquisition and numerical hocuspocus — profits and costs are misleading targets and indicators

      • Arno Gahrmann

      Pages 63-71

   5. The debate about sustainability in industry

      • Wolfgang Brühl

      Pages 73-76

   6. Indicators of sustainable employment

      • Gerhard Bosch

      Pages 77-90

   7. Discussion

      Pages 91-99

5. The physical basis of the economy

   1. Dematerialisation and energy efficiency — the message of ecoindicators

      • Peter Hennicke

      Pages 103-108

   2. Material Flow Analysis — unveiling the physical basis of economies

      • Stefan Bringezu

      Pages 109-134

   3. Emergy accounting

      • Howard T. Odum

      Pages 135-146

6. Assessment and policy analysis

   1. Assessment of sustainability in growth and development—approaches and policy applications

      • Robert Repetto

      Pages 149-155

   2. Questions and Answers

      Pages 157-166

   3. How can sustainability become a measure of success in politics ?

      • Hansvolker Ziegler

      Pages 167-170

   4. Economic growth models and the role of physical resources

      • Robert U. Ayres, Benjamin Warr

      Pages 171-188

   5. Post-fossil development patterns in the North

      • Wolfgang Sachs

      Pages 189-204

   6. Outlook: From paradigm to policy

      • Peter Bartelmus

      Pages 205-212

Does money blur perspectives for a better life?
Lifting the money veil from our yardsticks of progress, income and wealth, reveals the trade-offs of economic growth. The book presents new indicators of the social, economic and ecological impacts of our lifestyles and production techniques. The indicators help to identify those responsible for these impacts and account for their accountability in terms of environmental and other ("social") costs.
Sustainable development is to bring about long-term prosperity without undermining its natural foundation. For the assessment of the opaque concept we need both, physical impact measures and environmentally modified ("green") indicators of income, capital and output.
Peter Bartelmus opens the dialogue between frequently hostile camps of economists and environmentalists, data producers and users, and scientists and policy makers. Together, they may steer us towards a sustainable future.

• UNEP
• development
• efficiency
• environment
• production
• sustainability
• sustainable development
• industrial pollution prevention

"...particular attention to the pros and cons of attempting to internalise environmental costs into individual decision-making through the political process. On the whole, Unveiling Wealth is a very useful book for economists, environmentalists, policy makers as well as eco-conscious practitioners of business."
(Environmental Politics, 12:3 (2003)

• Division for Material Flows and Structural Change, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Wuppertal, Germany

  Peter Bartelmus

Policies and ethics