Measuring what works

Quantifying greenhouse gas emission reductions of behavioural interventions to reduce driving, meat consumption, and household energy use

Bibliographic Data

ID15550285
AuthorsSeth Wynes (0000-0002-3931-3165, University of British Columbia, corresponding author), Kimberly A Nicholas (0000-0002-4756-7851, Lund University), Jiaying Zhao (0000-0002-6009-0568, University of British Columbia), Simon D Donner (0000-0003-0600-7388, University of British Columbia)
Year2018
Volume13
Issue11
Pages113002-113002
Publication date2018-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Research Letters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326
PublisherIOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1088/1748-9326/aae5d7
OpenAlexW2899226293
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited114

Interventions that promote pro-environmental behaviours are increasingly necessary in reducing use of high-emissions goods and services to meet international climate change targets. Here we assess the greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with behavioural interventions in three high-emitting domains (personal vehicle use, meat consumption, and household energy use) based on an analysis of the peer-reviewed literature. We examined 40 studies from 1991-2018 involving 886 576 subjects. We found that some of the most robust interventions shown to reduce emissions were financial incentives for personal vehicles, defaults for reduced meat consumption, and feedback for home energy use. We estimate mean annual reductions of 571 kgCO2e per vehicle driver for reduced vehicle use, 51 kgCO2e per individual for reduced meat consumption, and 149 kgCO2e per household for reduced energy use. Despite substantial attention to behavioural interventions in the literature, we find that few studies are suitable for quantifying emissions reductions (N = 6 for diet, N = 5 for personal vehicles) and few (N = 3) are conducted outside OECD countries. Due to this imbalance in the literature, we focus our findings on western economies. We find substantial variation in the emission reductions achieved with different interventions within each domain; interventions in diet ranged from reductions of 231 kgCO2e to increases of 116 kgCO2e per person per year (both statistically significant). Further, emissions reductions are sensitive to external factors, such as the emissions intensity of the electrical grid, which may change over time. Key gaps in the literature include a lack of studies conducted using randomized controlled trials or follow-ups, and in high-impact areas for emissions reductions including air travel. We highlight promising areas of intervention, such as habit changes to promote mode shifts in personal transportation, which would benefit from an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions reductions in future research

Business · Consumption (sociology · Economics · Energy consumption · Environmental economics · Environmental health · Greenhouse gas · Incentive · Natural resource economics · Psychological intervention · Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies · Engineering · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Environmental Sustainability in Business · Medicine · Psychology · Ecology

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