The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Methodological Artefact?

A number of recent publications claims to have demonstrated that the pattern of environmental pollution in growing economies follows an inverted parabolic curve, called the environmental Kuznets curve. It is suggested that the Kuznets curve is a logical consequence of the kind of measurement but with little meaning for future, efficiency based environmental policies. Environmental Space as an measure of environmental pressures is introduced, accounting for the total use of energy, materials and land. Based on this, the trends in overall resource consumption are described. No indication of an environmental Kuznets curve can be found for the total resource throughput in several countries.     

Evidence maps: communicating risk assessments in societal controversies: the case of engineered nanoparticles

The transparent and fair characterization of scientific evidence for reporting the results of a hazard assessment is a demanding task. In this article, we present an approach for characterizing evidence--the evidence map approach. The theoretical starting point is to view evidence characterization as a form of argumentation. Thus, evidence maps are designed to depict the evidence base, the pro and con arguments, and the remaining uncertainties, which together lead experts to their conclusions when summarizing and evaluating the scientific evidence about a potential hazard. To illustrate its use, the evidence maps approach is applied to characterizing the health-relevant effects of engineered nanoparticles. Empirical data from an online survey suggests that the use of evidence maps improves the reporting of hazard assessments. Nonexperts prefer to receive the information included in an evidence map in order to come to an informed judgment. Furthermore, the benefits and limitations of evidence maps are discussed in the light of recent literature on risk communication. Finally, the article underlines the need for further research in order to increase quality of evidence reporting.