期刊名称：Revibec: revista iberoamericana de economía ecológica
印刷版ISSN：1390-2776
出版年度：2006
卷号：4
页码：55-72
语种：Spanish
出版社：Revibec: revista iberoamericana de economía ecológica
摘要：The key argument of this work is that the study of monetary flows is not sufficient to reveal the biophysical reality characterizing the economy. This study is comprised of a reading of environmental damage derived from economic activities, through the combination of the monetary aspect with physical flows. A group of indicators on direct material flows of the Ecuadorian economy has been constructed for the 1980 – 2003 period. Patterns of extraction and use of materials in the country can be summarized as follows: From 1980 to 2003, around 56 million tons of materials have entered the economy annually. From this, material extraction from domestic environment was 52.8 million tons, while 3.5 million tons was imported. Domestic consumption was around 41 million tons and foreign consumption (exports) near 15 million tons. This has resulted in a negative physical trade balance of -11.5 million tons. The wealth of this methodological application can be assessed from several angles. From one perspective, Ecuador is an emblematic case to analyze because its participation in world trade has, as a counterpart, an important environmental loss. On the other perspective, this work provides a more realistic view of interactions between the economy and the environment, which is fundamental for a mega-diverse country like Ecuador. In fact, an analysis of the economic system as a closed circuit dissolves the environmental scale. Social metabolism is a way of embodying the environmental dimension to the strong sustainability analysis of economies.
其他摘要：The key argument of this work is that the study of monetary flows is not sufficient to reveal the biophysical reality characterizing the economy. This study is comprised of a reading of environmental damage derived from economic activities, through the combination of the monetary aspect with physical flows. A group of indicators on direct material flows of the Ecuadorian economy has been constructed for the 1980 – 2003 period. Patterns of extraction and use of materials in the country can be summarized as follows: From 1980 to 2003, around 56 million tons of materials have entered the economy annually. From this, material extraction from domestic environment was 52.8 million tons, while 3.5 million tons was imported. Domestic consumption was around 41 million tons and foreign consumption (exports) near 15 million tons. This has resulted in a negative physical trade balance of -11.5 million tons. The wealth of this methodological application can be assessed from several angles. From one perspective, Ecuador is an emblematic case to analyze because its participation in world trade has, as a counterpart, an important environmental loss. On the other perspective, this work provides a more realistic view of interactions between the economy and the environment, which is fundamental for a mega-diverse country like Ecuador. In fact, an analysis of the economic system as a closed circuit dissolves the environmental scale. Social metabolism is a way of embodying the environmental dimension to the strong sustainability analysis of economies.
