Concerned about Climate Change and Ready to Take Action? An Analysis of the Pro-Climate Actions Individuals Are Motivated to Take to Lower Their Carbon Footprints

Sarah Olson, Małgorzata Szafraniec, Jukka Heinonen () and Áróra Árnadóttir
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Sarah Olson: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iceland, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
Małgorzata Szafraniec: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Lublin University of Technology, 20-618 Lublin, Poland
Jukka Heinonen: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iceland, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
Áróra Árnadóttir: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iceland, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-29

Abstract: Lifestyle changes are recognized as an important part of climate change mitigation. The influence of climate concern on taking individual actions for climate mitigation is well studied; however, the impact that climate concern has on consumption-based carbon footprints (CBCFs) is less studied. We aim to address this gap by examining the relationship of pro-climate actions, climate motivation, and CBCFs. We utilize data from a carbon footprint calculator with around 8000 responses from residents of the Nordic region. Respondents reported their personal consumption over the past year and answered questions about their participation in pro-climate actions and whether they were motivated by reducing their CBCF. We found that the high-impact actions of avoiding meat and flying had the most impact on CBCFs and had the highest correlation with climate motivation; however, the engagement levels were low. Conversely, the actions with the most participation had a lower impact on CBCFs and correlated less with climate motivation. Although respondents who reported a higher engagement with pro-climate actions and a higher climate motivation generally had lower CBCFs, their footprints were still not compatible with 1.5-degree limits. This study highlights the gap between climate motivation and the level of engagement in high-impact actions necessary for climate-sustainable lifestyles.

Keywords: climate motivation; pro-climate actions; consumption-based carbon footprints; 1.5-degree lifestyles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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