Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Nature Climate Change
Publication Date
12-17-2018
ISSN
1758-678X
Page Number
8
Keywords
climate change, greenhouse emissions, energy consumption, carbon content
Disciplines
Environmental Law | Law
Abstract
Rapid and transformative changes are required to reduce the adverse consequences of climate change. A growing literature suggests that households can be an important part of efforts to reduce GHG emissions. Transformative change implies modifying actions across different life and consumption domains, but not all actions are equally important. The most promising efforts focus on behaviours with high technical potential (the total emissions reductions possible from the behaviour change) and behavioural plasticity (the extent to which the behaviour can be changed in a given decision environment). Shifting towards a plant-based diet has technical potential that is among the highest of the household GHG reduction options. But are consumers aware of this fact? Writing in Nature Climate Change, Camilleri and colleagues find that the answer is no: consumers greatly underestimate the energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with different foods, and this underestimation is more pronounced for foods than appliances.
Recommended Citation
Michael P. Vandenbergh and Kristian Steensen Nielsen,
Consumer Perceptions: From Myths to Action, 9 Nature Climate Change. 8
(2018)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1487