Future Energy and Material Scenarios Based on Decent Living Standards

The decent living standards (DLS) framework defines a minimum set of material requirements that are essential for achieving human well-being. Over the past decade, it has served as a normative reference to link the environmental impacts of socioeconomic futures to progress in human development. Studies have applied the DLS framework at national, regional, and global scales to quantify multidimensional poverty, infrastructure, and service requirements in order to eradicate poverty and, in turn, to quantify the energy and materials required to meet these needs. A few studies examine the greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of providing DLS to all in climate futures. Overall, the literature suggests that the energy and GHG emissions implied in closing gaps and sustaining DLS are, and will remain, smaller than the impacts associated with affluence beyond DLS. There are substantial regional variations in resource impacts as a result of differences in climate, population density, and existing provisioning systems. Transport needs are relatively poorly understood, and its quantifications vary the most. The literature reveals the importance of inequality reduction in simultaneously eradicating poverty and achieving climate stabilization goals

Johan Andrés Vélez-Henao, Jan Streeck, Joel Millward-Hopkins, Marlin Arnz, Vivien Fisch-Romito, Jarmo S Kikstra and Narasimha D Rao co-authored the review article.

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