Chapter 03 · Reporting & strategyStrategy, Targets & Performance Management
Decoupling
Definition
Decoupling refers to breaking the historical link between economic growth and environmental degradation. In relative decoupling, environmental pressure grows more slowly than GDP; in absolute decoupling, GDP grows while environmental pressure stays flat or falls. The OECD's decoupling index measures the change in environmental-pressure intensity per unit of GDP. Only absolute, sustained, global and sufficiently rapid decoupling is considered consistent with climate goals.
References
Overview
What it means
The central empirical question of green growth: can economies keep growing while resource use and emissions actually decline?
How it is used
Analysts use decoupling indicators to assess national performance; critics note that observed decoupling is usually relative, local or consumption-shifted rather than absolute and global.
Why it matters
The credibility of green-growth strategies — and the case for degrowth alternatives — turns on whether absolute decoupling at the required speed is achievable.