Streamlining the regionalization of economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA): The case of swiss cantons

Abstract

Current levels of resource use and pollution emissions are responsible for the trespassing of most planetary boundaries. As such, operational and contextual analysis is needed to provide mitigation strategies and policies. This article aims to streamline Economy-Wide Material Flow Accounts (EW-MFA) at a Swiss cantonal scale, which corresponds to NUTS 3 region according to the European Statistical System. The method was developed originally to be applied at a national level. However, it can be considered as a “black-box” approach, which measures flows rather than enabling the understanding of the internal mechanisms that mobilise them. In order to overcome this challenge, the accounting was regionalized to smaller spatial units. This research developed an EW-MFA database for all 26 Swiss cantons for a time series from 2016 to 2019, including Domestic Extraction, Import, Export, and Domestic Processed Output parts. Results enable an in-depth look into Swiss material flows helping cantons to monitor their environmental pressures and develop more ambitious policies to keep their climate objectives.