Consumer culture keeps carbon emissions high
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life cycle and help consumers move policy actions can be focused,” says When governments want to curb toward more sustainable consumpWerner Bosmans, an environmental greenhouse gas emissions, they tion patterns, Bosmans notes. policy officer with the European focus on the pollution created The Stockholm Environment InstiCommission. within their own borders. But that tute (SEI), a nonprofit research orgaPerversely, Bosmans says, improvis just part of the story if the nization, has argued that internationing technology and boosting the effigoods consumed in one nation al climate policies should include ciency of production has not are produced in another country. carbon footprint inventories and reduced carbon emissions. Instead, As a step toward a more complete tools to push consumers into reckoning, a new study low-carbon products, says published in ES&T [DOI Tommy Wiedmann, an eco10.1021/es803496a] calculogical economist with SEI at lates the carbon footprints the University of York (U.K.). of 73 nations by using a This approach will be distrade-linked model of the cussed at the UN’s COP15 global economy. The reclimate meetings in Copensult is that a country such hagen this December, he as Switzerland has a carsays. bon footprint nearly twice Ideally, a global treaty the size of its domestic would set targets for the cargreenhouse gas emissions. bon footprint for each nation Previous research has at a level that would prevent shown that rich countries the average global temperacan, in essence, outsource Because of an insatiable desire for imported manufactured goods, a rich country’s carbon footprint can dwarf its ture from rising more than 2 their carbon emissions by national greenhouse gas emissions inventory. °C, Wiedmann explains. “In shifting production to dea far future, we could imagveloping countries, says ine everybody having a CO2 quota to Edgar Hertwich, who is the lead as goods are produced more effiauthor of the research and an inciently, they become cheaper, leavspend,” adds Bosmans. dustrial ecologist at the Norwegian ing consumers with more Measures to curb or shift conUniversity of Science and Technoldiscretionary cash to buy more stuff, sumption could include taxes on carogy. The new study advances this he says. “These views reflect only my bon-wasting goods and services, approach by revealing the kinds of personal opinion,” he adds. Wiedmann says. consumption patterns that generThese consumption and lifeBut linking greenhouse gas emisate greenhouse gases. style issues go undetected by dosions to consumption is a tricky The study found that national mestic emission inventories, business for politicians, because conper capita footprints ranged from which focus on a technological fix sumers are also voters, says Ab Stev1 ton of CO2 equivalents per year to cutting emissions, says Klaus els, a professor in the Design for Hubacek, an environmental scienSustainability Lab of the Delft Uni(t CO2e/y) in African countries to tist at the Sustainability Research versity of Technology (The Netherabout 30 t CO2e/y in the U.S. The Institute at the University of lands). “Blaming consumers for too researchers then broke the carbon Leeds (U.K.). “The current emismuch consumption, let alone taxing footprint down into emissions sion inventories just show where consumption, as compared to putfrom eight consumption categoemissions occur, but the conting all the responsibility for CO2 ries: construction, shelter, clothsumer-based approach or carbon ing, services, food, mobility, with industry and suggesting that footprint might help to explain manufactured products, and technology will bring a solution, is why they occur and provide a trade. The more a country spends something which will be seen as very better tool for influencing conon these items, the more greenrisky,” he says. sumption and thus mitigating house gas it emits, Hertwich says. The new study has a message for emissions,” he says. Mobility and manufactured prodpolicy makers, Stevels says: “Be couThe EU has an ambitious Sustainucts dominate emissions in rich rageous, tell your citizens the unable Consumption and Production countries, whereas food accounts pleasant and inconvenient truthsdo and Sustainable Industrial Policy Acfor the largest fraction of pollunot suggest that technology alone tion Plan that aims to continuously tion in poor countries. will be good enough.” improve the environmental perfor“This research helps to prioritize —JANET PELLEY mance of products throughout their the product categories on which 6116 9 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / August 15, 2009
10.1021/es901774u
2009 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 06/24/2009
