The potential of behavioural change for climate change mitigation: a case study for the European Union

Abstract

Mainstream literature on climate change concentrates overwhelmingly on technological solutions for this global long-term problem, while a change towards climate-friendly behaviour could play a role in emission reduction and has received little attention. This paper focuses on the potential climate mitigation by behavioural change in the European Union (EU) covering many behavioural options in food, mobility and housing demand which do not require any personal up-front investment. We use the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), capturing both their direct and indirect implications in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Our results indicate that modest to rigorous behavioural change could reduce per capita footprint emissions by 6 to 16%, out of which one fourth will take place outside the EU, predominantly by reducing land use change. The domestic emission savings would contribute to reduce the costs of achieving the internationally agreed climate goal of the EU by 13.5 to 30%. Moreover, many of these options would also yield co-benefits such as monetary savings, positive health impacts or animal wellbeing. These results imply the need for policymakers to focus on climate education and awareness programs more seriously and strategically, making use of the multiple co-benefits related with adopting pro-environmental behaviour. Apart from that, the relevance of behavioural change in climate change mitigation implies that policyinforming models on climate change should include behavioural change as a complement or partial alternative to technological change.

Big Data, Big Waste? A Reflection on the Environmental Sustainability of Big Data Initiatives

“…More practically, awareness campaigns to change people's behaviour towards data storage could be helpful in this context: campaigns to raise awareness of the pollution of data centres, apps, computing services (see for example the annual reports "Clicking clean" published by Greenpeace: http://www.green peace .org/usa/globa l-warmi ng/click -clean /). This is similar to what is already being done to mitigate climate change where policy makers encourage behavioural change solutions, for example, those incentivising individuals to reduce the emissions per capita or reducing their consumption profile by changing some lifestyle choices, for example, by reducing food waste, changing mobility habits (van de Ven et al 2017). Storing data in a cloud system may be one of those lifestyle choices that people may need to consider with respect to their environmental impact.…”

Potential Climate Benefits of Digital Consumer Innovations

“…Consumption activity related to mobility, food, homes, and energy makes up the principal domains of daily life as well as the principal opportunities for emission reductions (1,4). We use the term domain to describe types of consumption activity (e.g., mobility, food) as distinct from the economic sector that provides for that activity (e.g., transportation, agriculture) (5). The energy domain describes activity at the interface between energy-supply infrastructure and energy use in homes, recognizing the emerging opportunities for households to generate, store, trade, and supply energy as well as consume it (6,7).…”

“…Changing behavior and routines, maintaining equipment and appliances, and investing in energy-efficiency improvements and technologies can all yield large savings under current policy, market, and infrastructural conditions (12). Demand-side options for reducing emissions are increasingly recognized in syntheses and assessments (5,13,14). A recent European Union study estimated 25-30% emission reductions from a portfolio of 90 actions termed green demand-side initiatives, which included both behavioral changes and efficiency investments (4).…”

Prosumers Everywhere: Investigating the Driving Forces Behind Prosumer Behavior in Different Socioeconomic Strata

“…The potential of behavioral change for climate change mitigation: a case study for the European Union (van de Ven et al, 2018) Identifying Barriers and Catalysts to Fostering Pro-Environmental Behavior: Opportunities and Challenges for Community Psychology (Quimby & Angelique, 2011) Pro-Environmental behavior and public understanding of climate change (Masud et al, 2013) The dragons of Inaction -Psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation (Gifford, 2011) Values, environmental concern, and environmental behavior (Poortinga et al, 2004) It's not (just) "the environment, stupid!" -Values, motivations, and routes to engagement of people adopting lower-carbon lifestyles (Howell, 2012) Unpacking the relationships between Pro-environmental behavior, life satisfaction, and perceived ecological threat (Schmitt et al, 2017) Public perception of climate change -Voluntary mitigation and barriers to behavioral change (Semenza et al, 2008) Environmental concern, attitude toward frugality, and ease of behavior as determinants of pro-environmental behavior intentions (Fujii, 2007)…”