Staatliche Eingriffe in die Lebensmittelwahl: Welche klimapolitischen Instrumente unterstützt die Bevölkerung?

Abstract

Staatliche Eingriffe in den Lebensmittelkonsum der Deutschen sind im europäischen Vergleich eher selten. Politiker(innen) empfinden wohl Lenkungssteuern- oder Werbeverbote als unpopulär. Konkrete Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz, etwa eine Klimasteuer auf importierte Flugwaren, stoßen jedoch auf breite Zustimmung und könnten durchaus zu Klimazielen beitragen.In view of climate change, policy approaches addressing the consumption side of nutrition are becoming increasingly relevant to lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, adequate policy instruments can be risky. They interfere with individual freedom of choice and can thus be unpopular. This study investigates the social acceptance of governmental interventions. The study explores four types of climate policy instruments of increasing depth of intervention: 1. information and education, 2. nudging, 3. taxation, 4. bans. Information and nudging are met with the largest degree of approval. Assuming that acceptance will decrease with the depth of intervention, the equally critical perception of taxation and bans is an exception. Apart from the depth of intervention, social acceptance also depends on the field of action. For instance, taxation of airfreight products would be widely accepted. The conclusion explores nutrition policy options motivated by climate policy considerations.

Dietary Behavior as a Target of Environmental Policy: Which Policy Instruments Are Adequate to Incentivize Plant-Based Diets?

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How Do We Move towards a Greener and Socially Equitable Future? Identifying the Trade-Offs of Accepted CO2 Pricing Revenues in Germany

“…Acceptance studies in the food sector have shown that taxes are strongly perceived as governmental patronization and as the illegal profits of the state, often disregarding the protective function that governmental prohibitions bring about [30]. In this context, political trust has been identified to be a strong predictor of CO 2 pricing acceptance [31][32][33].…”

Lowering the Consumption of Animal Products without Sacrificing Consumer Freedom – A Pragmatic Proposal

“…There are several limiting policy instruments aiming at changing individual's behaviour in a politically intended direction (c.f. Garnett, 2014, Table 2; Lemken et al, 2018;Green and Gambhir, 2019, for a review of available policy instruments): regulation and legislation; fiscal measures (taxes and subsidies); nudging; social marketing. Similarly, there are also several compensatory policy instruments motivating individuals to accept the desired behavioural change: education; financial incentives; unconditioned financial compensations (negative tax).…”

“…5 c.f. Bicket and Vanner (2016); Carattini et al (2018); Lemken et al (2018) for reviews of the research field. 6 In economic theory, the opportunity cost of a good is defined as the foregone benefit caused by choosing the good over its alternatives (taking money spent or kept into account).…”