Water, land, materials, and emissions for providing decent living standards around the world

The safe and just space for humanity is a vision for a sustainable economy, where all people have decent access to services so that social requirements are met (floor), and the use of natural resources does not drive critical Earth system processes beyond Holocene conditions (ceiling). Using the concept of decent living standards (DLS) to quantify the resource implications of social requirements (floor) globally, we estimate the average in-use stocks, as well as associated annual natural resource use and related greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that are required to provide a DLS in 176 countries. Our results suggest that the per capita resources and emissions associated with a DLS differ considerably between countries, depending on their socioeconomic and technological context. With renewable energies, a reduction in meat consumption and active mobility (efficient scenario), the following average per capita DLS impacts results: materials: 2–5 t/(cap*yr), GHG emissions: 1–4 t CO 2 eq./(cap*yr), land occupation: 1424–6615 m 2 /cap, and water use: 98–328 m 3 /(cap*yr). The in-use stocks in the form of materials required to provide a DLS range from 26 to 29 t/cap. Closing the current DLS gap globally in the most efficient form requires resources equivalent to 7 % of global materials use, 1 % of GHG emissions, 2 % of land occupation, and 2 % of water consumption in 2015. • Providing DLS per person requires 2–5 t/yr materials, 1–4 t/yr CO 2 eq, 1424–6615 m 2 land, 98–328 m 3 /yr water • Closing DLS gaps globally requires 7 % materials, 1 % GHGs, 2 % land, 2 % water to 2015 levels • DLS resources and emissions vary by region due to socioeconomic and other factors