The world is facing a climate change crisis. Extreme weather is more common; sea levels are rising; numerous species are facing extinction. At the heart of the crisis is human consumption of scarce ecological resources. Mitigating climate change requires changes in consumer behaviour – be it eating less meat, transitioning to electric from petrol-powered vehicles, flying less, or becoming more energy efficient. Greenhouse gas emissions generated indirectly by purchased goods and services make up a sizeable portion of an individual’s ecological footprint (EF). EF is a broad measure of human demand on the Earth’s ecosystem which offers a greater scope than the more narrowly defined – if better known – carbon footprint. People need to shift to environmentally- conscious purchases to limit further environmental damage. Policy-makers must understand the drivers for such changes if they are to encourage it. Our study investigated how much of a price premium consumers are willing to pay for green goods. This willingness appears to be increasing, and we looked specifically at the impact of increasing the prices of goods and services traditionally associated with higher carbon and other emissions if they were produced in a more sustainable way but at a higher cost. HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY? The law of demand shows that when a good or service goes up in price, it diminishes a consumer’s willingness and ability to pay. But how much does this apply to green products? Our data comes from the Netherlands, where the Dutch National Bank Household Survey collects data from a cross-section of the Dutch population, including using questions on climate action. As part of the survey, respondents are informed of a potential policy change, such as “Meat production is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Suppose a global deal was made to make meat production less burdensome for the environment which 12 |
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