Presentation for municipal and regional employees working with reducing household climate emissions. What emissions to reduce (transport, food, and home energy), how (principles of policy design), and what works (research on effective policies and a smorgåsbord of good examples). Slides mostly in English.

1. Effekter av styrmedel och återgärder för
minskad klimatpåverkan från konsumtion
Mechanic’s Magazine, Knight & Lacey, London, 1824. Annenberg Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania
Kimberly Nicholas, PhD
Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS)
www.kimnicholas.com
@KA_Nicholas

2. @KA_Nicholas
Figur 5. Växthusgasutsläpp från konsumtion i Sverige fördelat på kategorierna livsmedel, boende,
transporter och shopping för privat konsumtion samt offentlig konsumtion, och regionalt mål till år
2030 (ton CO2
ekv/person/år). Källa: SCB51
Mellan år 2010 ochår 2015 minskade vårakonsumtionsbaserade utsläpp med drygt
10 procent. Det kan varamöjligt att halveraväxthusgasutsläppen från vår konsum-Persson, 2018. Ett klimatneutralt och fossilbränslefritt Skåne.
Fokus på transporter, livsmedel, boende

3. @KA_Nicholas
Konsumptionsbaserade utsläpp som ske halvera till 2030

4. @KA_Nicholas
Livsmedel
Boende
Transporter
Nicholas & Wynes, 2017, Environmental Research Letters

5. 3 policy mechanisms to reduce climate pollution
1. Improve efficiency
@KA_Nicholas
After Moberg et al., 2018, Energy Efficiency.

6. 3 policy mechanisms to reduce climate pollution
2. Substitute consumption
1. Improve efficiency
@KA_Nicholas
After Moberg et al., 2018, Energy Efficiency.

7. 3 policy mechanisms to reduce climate pollution
2. Substitute consumption
1. Improve efficiency
3. Reduce
consumption
@KA_Nicholas
After Moberg et al., 2018, Energy Efficiency.

8. Many possible policy instruments
Policy category Policy instruments
Economic instruments Credits
Grants
Taxes & deductions
Information policies Information campaigns
Research requests
Public goods & services Planning
Public company
Infrastructure
Regulation Prohibitions/bans
Standards
IPCC categories, after Moberg et al. 2018, Energy Efficiency
@KA_Nicholas

9. Effective policy is
complimentary + comprehensive
Photo: Michal Bednarek
@KA_Nicholas

10. Photo: Michal Bednarek
@KA_Nicholas
Effective policy is
complimentary + comprehensive

11. Effective policy is inclusive & fair
State
FirmsCivil society
The ”governance triangle”- after Abbott and Snidal (2009)
@KA_Nicholas

12. Need bottom-up action & fairness for 1.5°C
@KA_Nicholas
IPCC 1.5°C Report, 8 October 2018
Twitter summary: http://www.kimnicholas.com/climate-policy.html

13. Reduced car use saves most emissions*
Wynes, Nicholas, Zhao, & Donner. 2018. Environmental Research Letters
”Measuring what works: quantifying GHG emission reductions of behavioral interventions to reduce driving, meat
consumption, and household energy use.”
N=39 studies
*Zero studies on reducing flying
• Rewards
• Parking management
• Telecommuting
+ target new arrivals;
free transit/e-bike
• Defaults/nudge
• Carbon footprint label
+Goal/planning
• Feedback
• Instructions
• Rewards
@KA_Nicholas

14. Make tasty plant-based food the norm
@KA_Nicholas 14
http://www.earthsystemgovernance.net/lund2017/

15. Designing Climate Policy
Energy Innovation Climate Policy Simulator:
us.energypolicy.solutions@KA_Nicholas

16. Energy Innovation Climate Policy Simulator:
us.energypolicy.solutions
@KA_Nicholas

17. Moberg et al., 2018, Energy Efficiency.
”Mobility, food and housing: Responsibility, individual consumption, and demand-side policies in European deep
decarbonization pathways.”
@KA_Nicholas

18. Kriterier för hållbar transportsystem
Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist & Christer Ljungberg, 2009
” Bättre införande av åtgärder för ett hållbart transportsystem”
@KA_Nicholas

19. 12 Principles for Green Urban Development
4. Small
Blocks
1. Urban
Growth
Boundary
2. Transit
Oriented
Development
3. Mixed-Use
5. Public
Green Space
6. Non-
Motorized
Transit
7. Public
Transit
8. Car Control
9. Green
Buildings
12. Water
Efficiency
11. Waste
Management
10.
Renewable
and District
Energy
1-5: Urban Form
6-8: Transportation
9-12: Energy &
Resources
https://energyinnovation.org/resources/ -> Urban Sustainability;
Case study: https://energyinnovation.org/greensmart/ Hammarby Sjöstad@KA_Nicholas

20. Energy Innovation: 12 Green Guidelines, https://energyinnovation.org/resources/project-series/greensmart/
@KA_Nicholas

21. 1. URBAN GROWTH
BOUNDARY
2. TOD
3. MIXED-USE
4. SMALL BLOCKS
5. PUBLIC GREEN
SPACE
6. WALKING AND
BIKING
7. PUBLIC TRANSIT
8. CAR CONTROL
9. GREEN
BUILDINGS
10. RENEWABLE
AND DISTRICT
ENERGY
11. WASTE
12. WATER Liuyun Xiaoqu, China
The world’s most attractive cities prioritize transportation
development at the human scale
Dense networksof walking and biking pathsallow for shorter, more
efficient, and more pleasant commutes.
@KA_Nicholas

22. Wynes & Donner, 2018, Action Plan, Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions report
@KA_Nicholas

23. LUCSUS: New flying less policy
@KA_Nicholas
https://www.lucsus.lu.se/article/lucsus-presents-new-travel-policy-to-reduce-work-related-emissions

24. @KA_Nicholas

25. @KA_Nicholas
Nicholas & Wynes, 2019. WRI Expert Perspective.
https://www.wri.org/climate/expert-perspective/

26. Type of
intervention
Example To reduce emissions from aviation
Nudges Customers “nudged” by being given
preportioned meal sizes (Friis et al.
2017).
Change defaults in government booking systems to better support booking train travel.
Prompts Participant received text-message
reminders to reduce red meat intake
(Carfora et al. 2017).
Display a note on a travel booking website asking customer to consider linked low-carbon options.
Justification Carbon footprint information of meal
choices displayed (Brunner et al.
2018).
Make carbon footprint of flights versus other choices more explicit in transport mapping and travel
booking systems to inform travel decision.
Instructions Energy saving tips provided to
households (Allcott 2011).
Design government and institutional travel policies that prioritize travel-free meetings, then ground-
based travel (von Arnold 2018; Tyndall Centre 2019).
Provide instructions and technical support for institutional videoconferencing hardware and software
to lower barriers for digital alternatives to air travel (Wynes and Donner 2018).
Feedback Monthly energy statement mailed to
households (Carroll et al. 2014).
Give institution members individual reports about personal air travel, including a comparison to the
average member of the department or with a sustainable global citizen’s annual carbon budget (with
normative, encouraging messages for those whose emissions are below the average).
Make public the emissions of public sector employees who generate above a certain threshold in air
travel emissions. Similar social pressure interventions have been effective in encouraging behaviors
like voting (Davenport et al. 2010) and reduced household energy consumption (Delmas and
Lessem 2014).
Social
modeling
Neighborhood leaders model a
proenvironmental behavior.
Highlight and promote local destinations, emphasizing the economic benefits for local economies
(e.g., collaboration of Swedish universities, regional governments and tourist agencies that includes
100 vacations reachable by train, and carbon calculator for travel plans) (Klimatsmart Semester
2019).
Promote positive stories of slow travel and its health, quality time, adventure, and other benefits.
Attitudes and behavior have been changed by knowing someone who flies less or doesn’t fly
(Westlake 2017).
Increase institutional or leadership commitment to reduced flying.
@KA_Nicholas
Nicholas & Wynes, 2019. WRI Expert Perspective.
Suggested policy experiments to reduce flying
And many more! See: https://www.wri.org/climate/expert-perspective/

27. @KA_Nicholas
http://www.kimnicholas.com/the-takeoff-of-staying-on-the-ground.html
Forskningsprojekt: Ingen ny tid för avgång
Nicholas & Stripple

28. Conclusions
• What consumption-based climate emissions to reduce?
• Transport: car- and flight-free
• Food: Plant-based diet
• Home: fossil-free energy, efficiency
• How to reduce consumption-based emissions?
• Improve efficiency; substitute consumption; reduce consumption
• Diverse, comprehensive policy approach
• Include key actors: government, industry, civil society
• What works to reduce consumption-based emissions?
• Focus on car-free: rewards, parking management, travel-free
• Food: defaults, nudging, labels, goals/planning
• Flying: we need policy experiments- please get in touch!
@KA_Nicholas