Just Allocation Principles for the Absolute Sustainability of European Battery Manufacturing

The absolute sustainability of a sector based on the planetary boundary framework requires defining its share of safe operating space (SoSOS) which greatly influences the results. Current studies at country, regional or sector level apply ethical norms – such as egalitarian, utilitarian, prioritarian, and inegalitarian principles - to calculate this SoSOS, often combining multiple approaches without justification. If the SoSOS definition is meant to be just, it is important to recognize varying definitions of justice. Distributive justice includes not only egalitarian and prioritarian principles but also sufficientarian, principles of merit and limitarian principles. Furthermore, justice can be intragenerational but also intergenerational and interspecies. This study will calculate several SoSOS for the EU battery sector (consumption and production), while looking for justification to use SoSOS. Challenges arise from social acceptability and data availability. To define a European SoSOS, various combinations of principles will be explored. The egalitarian perspective allocates equal SoSOS to all inhabitants of a region, advocating equal access to the ecological space. However, equity not only involves sharing resources, but also sharing rights, responsibilities, and risks. A SoSOS can be calculated for the current population. However, incorporating intergeneration criteria requires integrating future populations, which poses a challenge due to projections. The utilitarian perspective considers sectoral utility, with economic added value, job creation, and physical output as potential bases. The sector’s share in the European final consumption expenditure cannot be directly used, as it is a BtoB sector. Under the prioritarian perspective, a right to development can be used based on the human development index. Applying historical emissions to a growing sector like batteries is complex. Priority could also be given to “essential sectors” such as health, agriculture, education, building, … which exact list is to be defined. It is recommended to use multiple sharing principles. This study will present a mix of established and innovative sharing principles. Although focused on the battery sector, the resulting SoSOS framework could apply to other sectors and countries, with global and local limits potentially treated differently.