Elemér Szabó

• PhD
• Scientific Officer at National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Budapest, Hungary

At the period of economic globalisation and speedy urbanization, in the most developed countries the sustainable uses of natural resources have become more and more important and policy relevant. Exploring urban metabolism applying material flow analysis could help to better understand the complex features of input-output processes, and the materia...

The study gives several examples of the possible usage of decoupling indicators recently introduced by OECD. The phenomenon of decoupling is shown at national level; environmental pressures of the regions of Hungary are compared by using a decoupling factor. These comparisons make it possible to discover those processes and their dynamics that in t...

The concept of the circular economy become popular in the last decade: both the decision makers and the businesses are looking for alternative solutions replacing the present economic model. The main aim of the circular economy approach is to decouple the economic growth from resource use and improving the resource efficiency. An overview is presen...

The concept of circular economy (CE) has become popular in the last decade: both decision-makers and businesses are looking for alternative solutions replacing the present economic model. Official governmental documents have been selected for introducing Visegrad countries' (V4) initiatives and monitoring the progress toward a transition to a circu...

Materials in urban areas in the form of buildings and infrastructure networks have the potential to be recycled and thus partially substitute primary raw material sources. The method presented in this study is suitable for determining the mass and material composition of the building stock and its spatial distribution, based on a combination of mat...

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The efficient use of natural resources and the process of transition to a circular economy are becoming increasingly important on the international political agenda after the global financial crisis of 2007–2008. The study analyses recent trends in resource productivity and material use and outlines the outlook for 2060, briefly presenting the key...

The present economic model is dominated by a linear approach of production and consumption, in the process different raw materials are extracted from nature, and goods are produced for different uses. After using these products huge amount of waste is generated and most of it ends up in landfills. The concept of circular economy has become popular...

The article analyses the different policy efforts of four member states of the European Union, each of which can be seen as frontrunners in searching the ways in transition toward circular economy. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands are among the best performing member states in the field of resource productivity (the efficiency of material use...

The authors analyse the Hungarian trends in chang-es of the state of the environment using selected, internationally comparable indicators. The study de-scribes significant reduction of air pollutants' emis-sions, trends of air quality, noise pressure, and changes in connection with water resources, water quality, sewage treatment, waste and materi...

The concept of the circular economy is not totally new however it has become popular in the last decade: both the policy makers and the businesses are looking for alternative solutions changing the present economic model. The main aim of the circular economy approach is to decouple the economic growth from resource use and improving the resourc...

You can find here two lists (Table M1 and M2): M1 shows, in detail, green growth indicators elaborated by the OECD. M2 presents a comparison of green growth indicators used as national set in the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Korea in paralel with OECD suggestions.

The long-lasting global economic and social crisis clearly shows the unsustainability of past growth paradigms. International organisations and national governments are still seeking the new engines of growth. The OECD plays a prominent role in this field. The study explores green growth related activities of the United Nations, European Union and...

The authors aim at analysing major socio-economic and environmental processes in the Carpathian region which represents a unique macro-region in Central Europe. The Carpathian countries have experienced major political, economic, social and environmental changes during the past 20 years. Their economy, industry, agriculture and transport sectors we...

Environmental indicators have been developed to condense information and to improve effective information flows between scientists and policy-makers. The paper investigates the importance of timely environmental data and the influence of indicator-based reporting on data timeliness of the environment reports published by different organizations. Ti...

In 2005, 3.2 billion people lived in cities, four times more than in 1950. With this the ur - ban population almost reached the half of the total Earth's population. The urban popula - tion exceeded the magic one billion number in 1961. Only one quarter of century needed to grow with other one billion urban inhabitants, and later only 17 years for...

Developing environmental outlooks and visions can help in designing better, accountable and measurable environmental policies and plans. The authors give an overview of the international and Hungarian experiences on environmental outlooks carried out in the last decades. The article summarises the pioneer work of the Club of Rome in the field of wo...

In the period of urbanization, the sustainable uses of natural resources have become more and more important in the most developed countries. Exploring urban material flows could help to better understand complex input-output processes, and the material consumption of the population. The economic changes in Budapest between 1950 and 1990, coupled w...

In 2003, seven Carpathian countries signed the Carpathian Framework Convention. For the sake of its implementation a correct definition of the geographical scope was necessary. The main purpose of this paper is to present the delimitation of the Carpathians as a mountainous region, carried out by taking into consideration a uniform methodology. On...

The study gives an overview on development and use of environmental indicators in institutions of the UN, the OECD, the European Union and Hungary. The authors describe the pressure–state–response model of the OECD, the main criteria of indicators’ selection, the main fields of their usage and target audiences. The activities related to environment...

The main goal of economy-wide material flow accounting is to provide aggregate background information on composition and changes of the physical structure of socio-economic systems. Material flow accounting is a useful methodological framework for analysing economy-environment relationships and deriving environmental and integrated environmental/so...

The main goal of economy-wide material flow accounting is to provide aggregate background information on composition and changes of the physical structure of socio-economic systems. Material flow accounting is a useful methodological framework for analysing economy-environment relationships and deriving environmental and integrated environmental/so...