Avoiding Consumer Scapegoatism : Towards a Political Economy of Sustainable Living

Transitioning to sustainable living is a complex, conflicting, and highly contested issue. As part of this push, governments and businesses have focused on promoting green consumerism - framing people as primarily consumers with “a utility function” and seeking to solve the consumerism problem by paradoxically building consumer capacity to purchase more energy and material efficient products. The now-debunked assumption is that a critical mass of informed, ecologically conscious consumers can, through the market mechanism, apply pressure on producers and thus transform the economic system into a sustainable one. In this thesis I argue that this approach, which is driven by economistic thinking, is consumer scapegoatism, and is both simplistic and flawed. In light of the magnitude and urgency of the unsustainability problem, green consumerism could even be dangerous as it delays deployment of effective solutions. Consumer scapegoatism occurs when ecological imbalance is examined primarily through an economic-growth lens, and the critical role of addressing these systemic flaws is ascribed to the consumer without proper regard for whether he or she has the power to influence other more salient actors in the system. This thesis argues for the need to develop an explicit political economy approach to sustainable living research, policy and practice. Political economy asks questions about power, institutions and agency. For sustainable living, these would be questions such as: who benefits or loses from current patterns of consumption, what are the drivers and structures that propagate unsustainable consumption, where are the meaningful points of intervention that can have desired effects. Critical to finding solutions is in understanding the power dynamics around the issue. I analyse sustainable living as an issue of heterogeneous claims and conflicting interests. The means and practical implications of achieving sustainable living threaten the interests of powerful actors such as national governments, large transnational corporations, and institutions that together shape contemporary politics, policy, and markets. Such actors are also responsible for the systems of provisioning and choice architecture that largely predetermine how individuals and communities pursue and meet their needs. As heterogeneity and conflict of interests are essential to political economy, this approach is well situated as the organizing frame of the field of sustainable living. I discuss the main tensions embodied in the pursuit of sustainable living, and juxtapose these with characteristics of the political economy approach that make it a suitable research framing. Political economy characteristics include: understanding of social transition; interdisciplinarity in research design; use of a moral perspective; and praxis, or practice orientation. I emphasize the element of power as vital in the articulation of social transformation, and highlight the need for sustainable living research to undertake a systemic analysis of power. To apply this, I develop the In-Power framework for analysing power dynamics within a system. The in-power framework has four components: institutions, interests, instruments, and influence. Institutions set the conditions or “rules of the game” for how actors operate in the production-consumption system; Interests identify stakes, showing heterogeneity or homogeneity of those interests in the sustainable living issue; Instruments refer to sources of power and tools available to each stakeholder to support its objectives; and Influence refers to activities stakeholders undertake and reflects agency. I use the framework to analyse the global value chain of consumer goods with a view to understanding drivers of consumption, how power is wielded by stakeholders, and potential points of effective intervention that can enable sustainable living. Dismantling the architecture of unsustainability would invariably call for a questioning of corporate architechture, not only due to the environmental impact resulting from its mode of operation, but also its lock-in effect on institutions and other actors of society. By extension, understanding unsustainable consumption and approaching sustainable living has at its core the need to address the balance – or imbalance – in power dynamics between consumption patterns and corporate power. Using the in-power framework to analyse power flows in a value chain leads to identifying the nexus of influence and the lead actor. The nexus of influece is the concentration of stakeholders who act interdependently and who have a combined decisive influence on the final product and also on the eco-system around it. The lead actor is the main actor in the system with a critical marketing, technological, or financial edge that permits it to set the standards or specifications for other actors in the value chain, and the characteristics that determine its production and use. Thus I argue that consumer scapegoatism, assigning full responsibility to the consumer, is ineffective; a more effective approach to addressing the systemic flaws causing or caused by unsustainable consumption is to target the nexus of influence and the lead actors in order to reform the choice architecture and systems of provision upon which people depend for meeting their needs and wants. Finally, I discuss two points not addressed in this thesis but which are essential to the political economy of sustainable living. They are: the need to define parameters for a sustainable consumption space; and to move research on sustainable living out of the shadows of economics.Siirtymä kohti kestävää elämäntapaa on kompleksinen, ristiriitainen ja erittäin kiistanalainen asia. Osana tätä liikettä hallitukset ja liike-elämä ovat alkaneet edistämään vihreää kuluttajuutta – jossa ihmiset kehystetään pääasiassa kuluttajina, joilla on ”hyötyfunktio”, ja joka pyrkii ratkaisemaan kuluttajuuden ongelman paradoksaalisella tavalla lisäämällä kuluttajien kapasiteettia energia- ja materiaalitehokkaampien tuotteiden ostamiseen. Jo kumottu oletus on se, että informoitujen ja ekologisesti tiedostavien kuluttajien kriittinen massa voi antaa painetta tuottajia kohtaan markkinamekanismin kautta, ja näin muuttaa talousjärjestelmän kestävämmäksi. Tässä väitöksessä esitän, että kyseinen lähestymistapa, jota ajaa ekonomistinen ajattelu, tarkoittaa kuluttajan syyllistämistä ja on sekä yksinkertaistettu että virheellinen. Kestävyysongelman suuruuden ja kiireellisyyden valossa vihreä kuluttajuus voi olla jopa vaarallista viivyttäessään tehokkaiden ratkaisujen käyttöönottoa. Kuluttajien syyllistämistä ilmenee silloin, kun ekologista epätasapainotilaa tarkastellaan pääasiassa talouskasvun näkökulmasta ja näiden systeemisten vikojen korjaamisen kriittistä roolia tarjotaan kuluttajalle ilman asianmukaisen huomion kiinnittämistä siihen, onko kuluttajilla valtaa vaikuttaa järjestelmän muihin keskeisiin toimijoihin. Tässä väitöksessä puolletaan tarvetta kehittää eksplisiittisesti talouspoliittinen lähestymistapa kestävän elämäntavan tutkimiseen, poliittiseen päätöksentekoon ja käytäntöön. Poliittinen taloustiede kysyy valtaa, instituutioita ja toimijuutta koskevia kysymyksiä. Kestävän elämäntavan tapauksessa näitä kysymyksiä ovat esimerkiksi seuraavat: kuka hyötyy tai häviää nykyisten kulutuskäytäntöjen takia, mitkä tekijät ja rakenteet levittävät kestämätöntä kulutusta, missä sijaitsevat merkitykselliset intervention kohteet, joihin puuttumalla voidaan saavuttaa haluttuja vaikutuksia. Ratkaisujen löytämisessä kriittisen tärkeää on asiaa ympäröivien valtadynaamisten tekijöiden ymmärtäminen. Analysoin kestävää elämäntapaa ilmiönä, johon liittyy heterogeenisiä väitteitä ja ristiriitaisia intressejä. Kestävän elämäntavan saavuttamisen keinot ja käytännön seuraukset uhkaavat sellaisten voimakkaiden toimijoiden kuten kansallisvaltioiden, suurten ylikansallisten korporaatioiden ja instituutioiden intressejä, jotka yhdessä muokkaavat nykyistä politiikkaa, päätöksentekoa ja markkinoita. Nämä toimijat ovat myös vastuussa niistä rahoituksen ja valinta-arkkitehtuurin järjestelmistä, jotka määräävät pitkälti ennalta sen, miten yksilöt ja yhteisöt ajavat etujaan sekä täyttävät tarpeitaan. Koska heterogeenisyys ja eturistiriidat ovat keskeisiä poliittisessa taloustieteessä, tämä suuntaus on omiaan muodostamaan kestävän elämäntavan kenttää järjestävän kehyksen. Painotan valtaelementtiä keskeisenä tekijänä yhteiskunnallisen muutoksen artikuloinnissa ja korostan tarvetta ryhtyä vallan systeemiseen analyysiin kestävän elämäntavan tutkimuksessa. Tämän soveltamiseksi kehitän vallan tutkimuksen kehyksen (In-Power Framework), jolla vallan dynamiikkaa voidaan tutkia järjestelmän sisällä. Tämä kehys sisältää neljää osaa: instituutiot, intressit, instrumentit ja vaikutusvallan. Instituutiot asettavat “pelisääntöjen” reunaehdot sille, miten toimijat toimivat tuotannon ja kulutuksen järjestelmässä; intressit tunnistavat pelin panokset ja näyttävät näiden intressien hetero- tai homogeenisyyden kestävää elämäntapaa koskien; instrumentit viittaavat vallan lähteisiin ja niihin työkaluihin, joita jokaisella eturyhmällä on käytettävissään tavoitteidensa tueksi; ja vaikutusvalta viittaa eturyhmien toimiin, heijastaen toimijuutta. Käytän tätä kehystä analysoimaan kulutushyödykkeiden globaalia arvoketjua, pitäen silmällä kulutuksen muutosajurien, eturyhmien vallankäytön ja kestävää elämäntapaa mahdollistavien tehokkaiden interventiokohteiden ymmärtämistä. Kestämättömyyden arkkitehtuurin purkaminen vaatisi poikkeuksetta suuryritysarkkitehtuurin kyseenalaistamista sekä sen toimintatavan ympäristövaikutusten että sen yhteiskunnan instituutioita ja muita toimijoita sisäänsä sulkevan vaikutuksen takia. Laajemmin ajateltuna kestämättömän kulutuksen ymmärrys ja kestävän elämäntavan saavuttaminen pitävät sisällään tarpeen kiinnittää huomiota kulutuskäytäntöjen ja yritysten vallan välisen valtadynamiikan tasapainoon – tai epätasapainoon. Kehyksen käyttö arvoketjun valtasuhteiden analysointiin johtaa vaikutusvallan keskipisteen ja johtavan toimijan tunnistamiseen. Vaikutusvallan keskipisteessä on se eturyhmien keskittymä, joka toimii keskinäisriippuvaisella tavalla ja jolla on yhdessä ratkaisevaa vaikutusvaltaa lopputuotteeseen sekä sitä ympäröivään ekosysteemiin. Johtava toimija puolestaan on se järjestelmän pääasiallinen toimija, jolla on kriittistä markkinointiin, teknologiaan tai talouteen liittyvää kilpailuetua, joka antaa sen määrittää arvoketjun muiden toimijoiden standardit tai spesifikaatiot sekä tuotannon ja käytön määrittäviä ominaisuuksia. Näin ollen esitän, että kuluttajien syyllistäminen, eli kokonaisvastuun siirtäminen kuluttajien hartioille, on tehotonta; parempi tapa kestämättömän kulutuksen aiheuttamien tai kestämätöntä kulutusta aiheuttavien systeemisten vikojen korjaamiseen on ottaa kohteeksi vaikutusvallan keskipiste sekä johtavat toimijat, jolloin valinta-arkkitehtuuri ja ne järjestelmät, joista ihmiset ovat riippuvaisia tarpeidensa täyttämiseksi, voidaan reformoida. Lopuksi käsittelen kahta seikkaa, joita ei ole käsitelty tässä väitöksessä, mutta jotka ovat kuitenkin oleellisia kestävän elämäntavan talouspolitiikalle. Ne ovat tarve määrittää kestävän kulutuksen tilan parametrit, ja kestävää elämäntapaa koskevan tutkimuksen siirtäminen taloustieteen varjoista kohti keskustaa

1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Towards A Fair Consumption Space for All

This report uses a science-based approach to link concrete changes in lifestyles to measurable impacts on climate change in order to achieve the 1.5-degree aspirational target of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The report also fills the knowledge gap arising from most prevailing climate scenarios that underplay the potential contributions of lifestyle changes to climate change mitigation and focus on developing new technologies as well as on changes in production.A summary for policy makers and individual sections of the report can be dowloaded here: https://hotorcool.org/1-5-degree-lifestyles-report/A recording of the report launch is available here:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLncecPWTUt9l_I0hQzg3BpGkkTz-h2uh

Static Analysis of Technical and Economic Energy-Saving Potential in the Residential Sector of Xiamen City

Technical potential Economic potential Energy savings Household energy consumption Levelised cost of conserved energy Residential buildingsBased on a household energy use survey, this paper explores the technical and economic potential of residential energy savings in a Chinese city, Xiamen. The survey adopted a similar questionnaire used by the U.S. EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), covering the end-uses of cooking, water heating, plug-in appliances, lighting and space cooling. The analysis shows that the technical potential of energy savings in Xiamen's residential buildings is significant, around 20%. Of the technical potential, about two-thirds to four-fifths are cost-effective from a whole society perspective. The cost-effectiveness was evaluated by comparing the Levelised Cost of Conserved Energy (LCOCE) of advanced technical measures with the actual cost of conserved energy. The actual cost of energy is defined by adding the carbon emission cost and hidden government subsidies over the retail prices of energy. About threequarters of the technical energy-saving potential in Xiamen come from adopting efficient household appliances, therefore, further tightening the energy efficiency standards for key household appliances and promoting wide diffusion of efficient models of appliances by various effective financial incentives are essential for achieving residential energy savings in China's “Hot Summer and Warm Winter” region where Xiamen locates

Household time use, carbon footprints, and urban form : a review of the potential contributions of everyday living to the 1.5 degrees C climate target

The 1.5 °C mitigation challenge for urban areas goes far beyond decarbonizing the cities’ energy supply and needs to enable and incentivize carbon-free everyday living. Reviewing recent literature, we find that dense and mixed urban form enables lower direct emissions from mobility and housing, while income is the major driver of total household carbon footprints; importantly, these effects are not linear. The available urban infrastructure, services and societal arrangements, for example on work, all influence how households use their time, which goods and services they consume in everyday life and their subsequent carbon footprints and potential rebound effects. We conclude that changes in household consumption, time use and urban form are crucial for a 1.5 °C future. We further identify a range of issues for which a time use perspective could open up new avenues for research and policy.Peer reviewe

Lifestyle carbon footprints and changes in lifestyles to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, and ways forward for related research

This paper presents an approach for assessing lifestyle carbon footprints and lifestyle change options aimed at achieving the 1.5 °C climate goal and facilitating the transition to decarbonized lifestyles through stakeholder participatory research. Using data on Finland and Japan it shows potential impacts of reducing carbon footprints through changes in lifestyles for around 30 options covering food, housing, and mobility domains, in comparison with the 2030 and 2050 per-capita targets (2.5-3.2 tCO2e by 2030; 0.7-1.4 tCO2e by 2050). It discusses research opportunities for expanding the footprint-based quantitative analysis to incorporate subnational analysis, living lab, and scenario development aiming at advancing sustainability science on the transition to decarbonized lifestyles

Improved modelling of lifestyle changes in Integrated Assessment Models : Cross-disciplinary insights from methodologies and theories

Recent studies show that lifestyle changes can provide an essential contribution to achieving the Paris climate targets. While some efforts have been made to incorporate lifestyle changes into model-based scenarios, the attempts are currently very stylised and included exogenously. This paper discusses current efforts to represent lifestyle change in models, and analyses potential insights from relevant scientific disciplines to improve the representation of lifestyle changes in models – including modelling specific behaviour changes, identifying cross-cutting lifestyle solutions, representing the intentions behind the changes and quantifying their impacts. As such, this research attempts to bridge the gap between qualitative and quantitative theories and methodologies. Based on the results of this literature analysis, we recommend defining lifestyle changes more harmoniously, exploring an expanded range of approaches, domains and transformative solutions, adopting a whole-systems approach, and addressing the trade-offs between the use of exogenous inputs and endogenous modelling. © 2019 The AuthorsPeer reviewe

(Path)ways to sustainable living: The impact of the SLIM scenarios on long-term emissions

Sustainable lifestyles and behaviour changes can be vital in climate change mitigation. Various disciplines analyse the potential for such changes – but without much interaction. Qualitative studies look into the change process (e.g. social practice theory), while quantitative studies often focus on their impact in stylised cases (e.g. energy modelling). A more holistic approach can provide insightful scenarios with diverse lifestyle changes based on informed narratives for quantifying long-term impacts. This research explores how comprehensive sustainable lifestyle scenarios, coined SLIM (Sustainable Living in Models) scenarios, could contribute to transport and residential emission reductions. By translating and quantifying lifestyle scenario narratives through engagements with advisors and policymakers, we modelled two distinct lifestyle scenarios which differ in their degree of access to structural support. In one scenario, governments, corporations and cities leverage existing values and market systems to shape citizen and consumer preferences and everyday practices. In the other scenario, people adopt ambitious sustainable lifestyle behaviours and practices through peer-to-peer interaction and digital technology. We quantified the scenarios based on motivations, contextual factors, extent, and speed of lifestyle adoptions with regional differentiation. Furthermore, we applied heterogenous adopter groups to determine the model inputs. We present the resulting pathways in per capita emissions and more detailed changes in total emissions via decomposition analyses. We conclude that regional differentiation of the scenario narratives and modelling of intra-regional differences allows accounting for equity in lifestyle changes to a certain extent. Furthermore, new technologies are more important for enabling lifestyle change in a scenario with than a scenario without strong structural support. With strong structural support, lifestyle changes reduce transport and residential emissions to a larger degree (about 39% for Global North and 27% for Global South overall in 2050 relative to a “Middle-of-the-Road” SSP2 reference scenario in 2050). Thus, lifestyle changes in larger systems change are essential for effective climate change mitigation

Decomposition analysis of per capita emissions : a tool for assessing consumption changes and technology changes within scenarios

Recent studies show that behaviour changes can provide an essential contribution to achieving the Paris climate targets. Existing climate change mitigation scenarios primarily focus on technological change and underrepresent the possible contribution of behaviour change. This paper presents and applies a methodology to decompose the factors contributing to changes in per capita emissions in scenarios. With this approach, we determine the relative contribution to total emissions from changes in activity, the way activities are carried out, the intensity of activities, as well as fuel choice. The decomposition tool breaks down per capita emissions loosely following the Kaya Identity, allowing a comparison between the contributions of technology and consumption changes among regions and between various scenarios. We illustrate the use of the tool by applying it to three previously-published scenarios; a baseline scenario, a scenario with a selection of behaviour changes, and a 2 degrees C scenario with the same selection of behaviour changes. Within these scenarios, we explore the contribution of technology and consumption changes to total emission changes in the transport and residential sector, for a selection of both developed and developing regions. In doing so, the tool helps identify where specifically (i.e. via consumption or technology factors) different measures play a role in mitigating emissions and expose opportunities for improved representation of behaviour changes in integrated assessment models. This research shows the value of the decomposition tool and how the approach could be flexibly replicated for different global models based on available variables and aims. The application of the tool to previously-published scenarios shows substantial differences in consumption and technology changes from CO2 price and behaviour changes, in transport and residential per capita emissions and between developing and developed regions. Furthermore, the tool's application can highlight opportunities for future scenario development of a more nuanced and heterogeneous representation of behaviour and lifestyle changes in global models.Peer reviewe