Nachhaltigen Konsum und nachhaltige Produktion ermöglichen : Empfehlungen für die Verbraucherpolitik

In den letzten Monaten vor Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie hatte die Diskussion der Frage, wie eine nachhaltige Entwicklung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ermöglicht werden kann, erheblich an Dynamik gewonnen. Diese Frage ist in der Krise zwar kurz in den Hintergrund getreten; die aktuelle Diskussion u.a. zu den Bedingungen, unter denen unsere Lebensmittel produziert werden, zeigt aber eindringlich, dass viele Probleme nach wie vor ungelöst sind. Immer sichtbarer wird, wie notwendig die Entwicklung nachhaltiger und zukunftsfähiger Konzepte für das Wirtschaften und Leben ist. Von herausragender Bedeutung ist dabei die Frage, wie eine nachhaltige Transformation der Produktions- und Konsumstrukturen politisch erfolgreich gestaltet werden kann. Vor diesem Hintergrund empfiehlt der SVRV der Bundesregierung in seinem aktuellen Policy Brief acht Maßnahmen, mit denen die Verbraucherpolitik im Kontext der Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie dazu beitragen kann, nachhaltigen Konsum zu ermöglichen. Dabei nimmt der SVRV die Zusammenhänge zwischen einer zukunftsfähigen Transformation der relevanten Systeme und nachhaltigen Produktions- und Konsumstrukturen in den Blick

Analyzing sectoral policies for deep decarbonization : the case of national freight transportation

Reaching the Paris Agreement goal requires transformative systemic change in all main emitting sectors of the economy, including freight transport. Nonetheless, current national strategies and efforts to mitigate this sub-sector's emissions are far from sufficient. This is at least partially due to a mismatch between the required decarbonization transformations and existing policies. This misalignment can be mostly explained by two factors: (1) existing research rarely captures the integrated view of all transformations required to fully decarbonize the sector and instead focuses mostly on technological solutions; (2) current policies do not adequately reflect the complexity of the transformations. Through this research, we developed a novel approach to improve policy analyses and help transport policy planners boost decarbonization ambition and action at national level, based on an innovative analytical structure to gather in-country expert opinions. The framework structures the analysis of policy instruments in the light of all stakeholder-oriented areas of transformations for the sector and associated barriers as well as enablers of sectoral deep decarbonization. This approach was then applied by national research teams in eleven countries: Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, South Africa and the United States to test its use and relevance. This paper introduces this method and presents cross-country comparison results around a specific area of sectoral transformations to illustrate how such an approach can benefit national ambition and action

Compounding injustices can impede a just energy transition

Coal and carbon-intensive regions have lagged behind in socioeconomic development, long before any transition-related structural changes were foreseeable. Acknowledging and tackling the compounding effects of old legacy and new transition injustices is vital for realizing a truly just energy transition

Energy and socioeconomic system transformation through a decade of IPCC-assessed scenarios

Charting future emissions pathways is a central tenet of IPCC assessment reports (AR), yet it is unclear how underlying drivers (including around policy and technology) have influenced the evolution of emissions pathways. Here we compare scenarios in AR5 and AR6 and find that scenarios without specific climate policies enforced have shifted lower in each scenario generation, owing to falling low-carbon technology costs and reduced expectations for economic growth, reducing fossil-fuel shares in energy and industry. Mitigation pathways consistent with 1.5-2 °C have seen increasing electrification rates and higher shares of variable renewables in electricity in more recent scenario generations, implying reduced reliance on coal, nuclear, bioenergy and carbon capture and storage, reflecting changing costs. Despite the shrinking carbon budget due to insufficient recent climate action, mitigation costs have not increased given more optimistic low-carbon technology cost projections. Moving forward, scenario producers must continually recalibrate to keep abreast of technology, policy and societal developments to remain policy relevant

Estimating future thresholds for the 15% eligibility criteria of the EU taxonomy with limited data availability

The EU Taxonomy Regulation requires, for the acquisition and ownership of buildings, to demonstrate that the asset's primary energy demand (of buildings constructed before 2021) is within the top 15% of the national or regional building stock. Determining the top 15% energy performance of a building stock is challenging because data availability is generally poor. Furthermore, the threshold for this top range will shift with upcoming refurbishment efforts and higher energy efficiency standards. We tackle these issues by proposing a methodology for estimating 1) current thresholds based on more widely available data on energy performance certificates and 2) using existing scenarios to estimate future threshold values. Estimation of current thresholds for residential buildings yields a moderate fit and a threshold value for final energy demand of 74 kWh per square meter and year (or a conservative threshold of 70 kWh for primary energy demand), which is very close to the results reported by other scholars. Estimated future thresholds show a linear decline in final energy demand down to 20 to 45 kWh per square meter and year in 2045, depending on the applied scenario

The influence of a hypothetical eco-score on purchase decisions : empirical evidence on consumer preferences and consumer segments for mobile phones

Multi-level eco-labels, such as an eco-score, combine various environmental product attributes into one overarching label and have the potential to effectively promote sustainable consumption and business practices. This study uses an adaptive choice-based conjoint analysis based on an online survey (n = 532) to explore consumer preferences for a hypothetical multi-level eco-score when purchasing mobile phones. In addition, cluster analysis is applied to identify and characterise consumer segments based on preferences for mobile phone attributes, consciousness for sustainable consumption, and social demographics. Findings indicate a linear, positive effect of an eco-score on purchase behaviour. Among the four identified segments, brand and eco shoppers and new and equipment shoppers show strong preferences for higher eco-score levels, suggesting untapped market potential for sustainable mobile phones. Businesses should, therefore, enhance and label environmental product performance, implement segment-specific targeted marketing strategies, and adopt multi-tier distribution systems. Policy makers are encouraged to test the implementation of an eco-score label in the consumer electronics sector. Overall, this study highlights the potential of more holistic sustainability labels to bridge the gap between consumers’ attitudes towards sustainability and their actual consumption choices, promoting cleaner and responsible consumption