Stefan Bringezu is Director at the Center of Environmental Systems Research at Kassel University, Germany. He is Professor of Sustainable Resource Management.
For the IRP, Stefan was Lead Coordinating Author of the reports Assessing biofuels: towards sustainable production and use of resources (2009), Assessing global land use: Balancing consumption with sustainable supply (2014), and Assessing Global Resource Use: A systems approach to resource efficiency and pollution reduction (2017).
His fields of study encompass the analysis of the socio-industrial metabolism and related land use, and the instruments to sustain resource supply, use and waste management. He has pioneered methods such as material flow analysis, which is rapidly becoming a widely accepted practice.
He has initiated several scientific networks, such as ConAccount, on material flow analysis for sustainability, and is founding member of the International Society for Industrial Ecology.
Prof. Bringezu earned a degree in biology and PhD in ecosystems analysis from the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and a post-doctoral degree at Germany’s Technical University of Berlin.
Prof. Bringezu is co-editor and main author of a pilot publication: S. Bringezu, R. Bleischwitz (contr. Eds.) (2009): Sustainable Resource Management - Global Trends, Visions and Policies (Greenleaf Publishers, Sheffield).
Prof. Bringezu authored The World Budget - Safe and fair resource use for global survival and well-being.
Selected publications
Bringezu, Stefan (2022): The World Budget - Safe and fair resource use for global survival and well-being. Self-published, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMB7DXPY
Bringezu, Stefan, Distelkamp, Martin, Lutz, Christian, Wimmer, Florian, Schaldach, Rüdiger, Hennenberg, Klaus, Böttcher, Hannes, Egenolf, Vincent (2021): Environmental and socioeconomic footprints and the German bioeconomy. Nature Sustainability 4: 775–783, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00725-3
Bringezu, Stefan (2019): Toward Science-Based and Knowledge-Based Targets for Global Sustainable Resource Use. Resources 8 (3), pp. 140. DOI: 10.3390/resources8030140.
Helander, Hanna; Petit-Boix, Anna; Leipold, Sina; Bringezu, Stefan (2019): How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy. An assessment of indicators. Journal of Industrial Ecology 139 (3), pp. 1011. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12924.
IRP (2019): Global Resources Outlook 2019. Natural Resources for the Future We Want. Oberle, Bruno; Bringezu, Stefan; Hatfield-Dodds, Steve; Hellweg, Stefanie; Schandl, Heinz; Clement, Jessica et al. (2019). A Report of the International Resource Panel. Nairobi, Kenya.
Mostert, Clemens; Bringezu, Stefan (2019): Measuring Product Material Footprint as New Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method. Indicators and Abiotic Characterization Factors. Resources 8 (2), pp. 61. DOI: 10.3390/resources8020061.
Sameer, Husam; Weber, Viktoria; Mostert, Clemens; Bringezu, Stefan; Fehling, Ekkehard; Wetzel, Alexander (2019): Environmental Assessment of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Using Carbon, Material, and Water Footprint. Materials 12 (6). DOI: 10.3390/ma12060851.
Egenolf, Vincent; Bringezu, Stefan (2019): Conceptualization of an Indicator System for Assessing the Sustainability of the Bioeconomy. Sustainability 11 (2), pp. 443. DOI: 10.3390/su11020443.
Sameer, Husam; Bringezu, Stefan (2019): Life cycle input indicators of material resource use for enhancing sustainability assessment schemes of buildings. Journal of Building Engineering 21, pp. 230–242. DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2018.10.010.
Hoppe, Wieland; Thonemann, Nils; Bringezu, Stefan (2018): Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Dioxide-Based Production of Methane and Methanol and Derived Polymers. Journal of Industrial Ecology 22 (2), pp. 327–340. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12583.
O'Brien, Meghan; Bringezu, Stefan (2018): European Timber Consumption. Developing a Method to Account for Timber Flows and the EU's Global Forest Footprint. Ecological Economics 147, pp. 322–332. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.01.027.
IRP (2017): Assessing Global Resource Use. A systems approach to resource efficiency and pollution reduction. Bringezu, S.; Ramaswami, A.; Schandl, H.; O’Brien, M.; Pelton, R.; Acquatella, J.; et al.. International Resource Panel. United Nations Environment Programme. Nairobi, Kenya.
Videos
Kassel Science Talk.Talk triangle: with Dr. Hans Bruyninckx and Prof. Reiner Finkeldey, President of the University of Kassel, moderated by Prof. Stefan Bringezu (CESR). October, 2019.
How SDGs Impact Our Monitoring of Resources – Stefan Bringezu #DNC2017 Keynote. July, 2017
UN Environment Programme channel. Stefan Bringezu. August, 2014.
View more publications on Google Scholar
Contributed to the following reports
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Unlocking the Sustainable Potential of Land Resources:
Land resources are one of nature’s most precious gifts. They feed us and help our societies and economies to thrive. This report examines how to better evaluate and use the potential of land on the way to achieving land degradation neutrality.
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Assessing Global Land Use
This report examines the impacts of global trends - population growth, urbanization, changes in diets and consumption behaviours - on global land use, considering biodiversity, the supply of food, fibre and fuel, and resource security.
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Assessing Biofuels
This report provides a robust assessment of key problems of production and use of biomass for energy purposes and options for more efficient and sustainable production and use of biomass.