Assessment of Policy Integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production into National Policies

Koide, Ryu; Akenji, Lewis

doi:10.3390/resources6040048

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The identified lifestyle factors were beyond a single product category or domain, as illustrated by a factor referring to car driving, leisure, and product consumption. This cross-cutting nature of lifestyle factors implies the necessity to address consumer lifestyles across different consumption domains, which confirms the importance of policy integrations on sustainable consumption and production between different policy sectors [52].…”

Section: The Lifestyle Factors Contributing To Carbon Footprints In Vmentioning

confidence: 80%

Carbon Footprints and Consumer Lifestyles: An Analysis of Lifestyle Factors and Gap Analysis by Consumer Segment in Japan

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Addressing the prevailing mode of high-carbon lifestyles is crucial for the transition towards a net-zero carbon society. Existing studies fail to fully investigate the underlining factors of unsustainable lifestyles beyond individual determinants nor consider the gaps between current footprints and reduction targets. This study examines latent lifestyle factors related to carbon footprints and analyzes gaps between decarbonization targets and current lifestyles of major consumer segments through exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis. As a case study on Japanese households, it estimates carbon footprints of over 47,000 households using expenditure survey microdata, and identifies high-carbon lifestyle factors and consumer segments by multivariate regression analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. Income, savings, family composition, house size and type, ownership of durables and automobiles, and work style were confirmed as determinants of high-footprint Japanese households, with eight lifestyles factors, including long-distance leisure, materialistic consumption, and meat-rich diets, identified as the main contributory factors. The study revealed a five-fold difference between lowest and highest footprint segments, with all segments overshooting the 2030 and 2050 decarbonization targets. The findings imply the urgent need for policies tailored to diverse consumer segments and to address the underlying causes of high-carbon lifestyles especially of high-carbon segments.Sustainability 2019, 11, 5983 2 of 25 to global GHG emissions-the average carbon footprint is almost 2.7 times larger than the global average [3]. A further study shows that over half of the average Japanese household carbon footprint results from indirect emissions induced through the purchase of products and services, with less than half caused by direct emissions such as from energy use at home [4].Transitioning towards sustainable lifestyles has been a major focal point of global sustainability policy agenda over the past few decades. The necessity for "encourage[ing] sustainable consumption patterns and lifestyles" was recognized in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in 1992 [5]. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted targets to "ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature" and to "ensure that all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote . . . sustainable lifestyles," among other issues [6]. In the context of the climate change policy, transitioning to sustainable lifestyles has also been adopted as part of the strategies towards net-zero carbon societies. The IPCC's Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 • C points out that "changes in human behavior and lifestyles are enabling conditions that enhance the feasibility of mitigation and adaptation options for 1.5 • C-consistent systems transitions," [7]. The European Long-term Strategic Vision for cl...

show abstract

Section: The Lifestyle Factors Contributing To Carbon Footprints In Vmentioning

confidence: 80%

Carbon Footprints and Consumer Lifestyles: An Analysis of Lifestyle Factors and Gap Analysis by Consumer Segment in Japan

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yet these broader assessments of behavioural change often neglect strategies to affect the supply chain and do not yet consider the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions (a.k.a. carbon footprints) that more narrow studies of specific strategies have shown to be important (Chester, Pincetl, Elizabeth, Eisenstein, & Matute, 2013;Hellweg & Milà i Canals, 2014;Hoekstra & Wiedmann, 2014;Koide & Akenji, 2017;O'Rourke, 2014;Scholz, Eriksson, & Strid, 2015) But increasing attention is being given to potential behavioural changes at points along the emitter-to-final-consumer supply chain aside from the primary emitter (Creutzig et al, 2018;Steininger et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the potential for consumer-oriented policy to reduce European and foreign carbon emissions

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The EU Carbon-CAP project assembled a comprehensive portfolio of consumer initiatives in order to assess the potential total impact of consumer options on national carbon footprints. Existing evaluations of behavioural change have focused primarily on direct energy reductions, typically in households and buildings. However, changes in consumer demand have deeper impacts via their upstream supply chains. The consumer behaviour options considered in the portfolio focus on green household initiatives. Combining existing micro-level studies with a multiregional input-output economic model, we estimated the potential efficacy and uptake of each behaviour across the European Union (EU). The results suggest that adopting these consumer options could reduce carbon footprints by approximately 25%. While 75% of this is delivered as reductions in emissions within Europe, one-quarter of the effect is delivered as a reduced imported carbon footprint, due to changes in the composition of imports. Key policy insights. Consumer initiatives can have a big effect on embodied carbon imports, in addition to domestic impacts. We connect a portfolio of ∼90 green behaviour changes to a global supply chain database to model impacts holistically. We estimate that with reasonable levels of adoption green consumer actions can reduce the EU CO2 footprint by 25%. A quarter of this effect is delivered in the form of reduced embodied emissions in imports ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

“…The concept of policy integration is an important starting point for transitioning consumption and production systems (Koide and Akenji 2017). Reflexive, distributed, and multi-scalar approaches demand a degree of direction and consistency across organizational, sectoral, and institutional boundaries.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

After Paris: transitions for sustainable consumption

Southerton

Welch

2019

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Consumption emissions-reduction measures based on an individualized model of consumption, marginal lifestyle changes, and technological innovation alone cannot meet the ambitions of the 2015 Paris Agreement to hold global temperature increases below 2 C. Radical shifts in the societal organization of consumption and production are urgently required to address the scale of the global challenge. Policy for sustainable consumption must be understood in the context of the urgent need for demand-side emissions reductions to reach critical medium-term targets by 2030. Global sustainability policy has remained chiefly focused on technological innovation. Where consumption is recognized, policy approaches have been dominated by 'behavior-change' initiatives that frame the challenge as one of individual choices, usually in the context of markets. Social scientific approaches, by contrast, argue that consumption should be understood as instituted and embedded in wider systemssocial, cultural, economic, and material. Escalating levels of environmental impact result from the bundle of goods and services taken for granted as necessities of everyday life by the growing global consumer class. Furthermore, sustainable consumption is fundamentally an issue of inequality. More equitable distribution of consumption-based emissions within and between societies is critical within the context of absolute emission reductions. The policies should address the social organization of consumption and the dynamic trajectories through which sociotechnical change takes place (the coevolution of technical systems and social practices). 'Policy integration' regarding sustainable consumption that embraces reflexive governance and radical experimentation engaging with sociotechnical trajectories is critical to meet the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement.

show abstract

Assessment of Policy Integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production into National Policies

Cited by 22 publications

References 12 publications

Carbon Footprints and Consumer Lifestyles: An Analysis of Lifestyle Factors and Gap Analysis by Consumer Segment in Japan

Carbon Footprints and Consumer Lifestyles: An Analysis of Lifestyle Factors and Gap Analysis by Consumer Segment in Japan

Quantifying the potential for consumer-oriented policy to reduce European and foreign carbon emissions

After Paris: transitions for sustainable consumption

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About