Annika Carlsson-Kanyama is research director at the Swedish Defence Research Agency. At the seminar Gender, Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Åbo on February 2 she presented her research on e.g. men and women’s different impact on the environment. Her point of departure is a consumption perspective which in many senses challenges conventional ways of working with the climate issue.
Global trade – global climate responsibility?
According to international statistics, the average Nordic citizen emits relatively little CO2 annually. With appr. 5.4 tons per person Sweden is best in class. But there are several ways of calculating emissions. Rather than focusing on emissions taking place in Sweden, the point of departure could be the emissions caused by Swedes. Such a calculation includes all the greenhouse gases that Swedish consumption contributes to, also emissions that occurred in other countries due to imported services and goods. As seen from a climate point of view, it does not matter where in the world the emissions take place: they all affect the environment to the same extent.
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| Annika Carlsson-Kanyama. Photo: FOI |
- If you shop at IKEA, only a few items are manufactured in Sweden. Same rule applies if you walk into a food store. If you call your bank at their call centre in India, they probably have air conditioning at the office causing a certain amount of greenhouse gases, Annika Carlsson-Kanyama exemplifies.
Despite uncertain numbers and variations in the methods of calculating export-related emissions, all estimates point in the same direction:
- With a focus on consumption, emissions are larger than if only Sweden’s own emissions are included and distributed across the population, says Annika Carlsson-Kanyama.
A consumption perspective changes the picture and distributes the burden of guilt in an entirely different way, not least internationally.
- At present, the whole controversy is about China surpassing the U.S. in emissions statistics, but as seen from a consumption perspective taking into account the emissions you effect in other countries, the U.S. emits way more than the big export country China, she notes.
Big variations across gender and levels of income
Another picture that Annika Carlsson-Kanyama would like to nuance is the average person’s emission. The differences in emission levels caused by different types of households are vast. Together with her colleague Riitta Räty she conducted a study of women and men’s energy consumption in 2008. They found that single Swedish men without children consume 20 percent more energy than women in the same situation. The difference can first and foremost be ascribed to men consuming more CO2-intensive goods, such as fuel for cars, while women consume more energy on clothing and consumer goods which in turn do not cause the same levels of pollution.
The most decisive factor to your emission level, however, is the amount of money you have available. Boasting the highest consumption levels in the survey, Norway is a case in point. Also in Norway, men are responsible for a higher consumption of energy-intensive transportation, but the results show no statistically significant difference between Norwegian single men and women’s energy consumption.
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| Figure: Total energy consumption and consumption in different product categories for average single women and men in Sweden, Germany, Norway and Greece. Source: Räty och Carlsson-Kanyama (2009) “Comparing energy use by gender, age and income in some European countries”, FOI-report |
- Norwegians have a lot of money. This effects high emissions, it is as simple as that, says Annika Carlsson-Kanyama.
Emission quotas?
Individual emission rights are sometimes presented as an imaginable regulation tool to reduce emissions. Such a system would highlight individual emissions, and Annika Carlsson-Kanyama believes that it might be a good way to even out the differences and make sure that total emissions do not exceed a certain level during a certain interval.
- I think that individual emission quotas would be a good idea. That would do away with a lot of moralising about consumption. All these recommendations and lists of what you should and should not do in order to reduce your environmental footprint can easily become a bit too righteous. Individual emission rights would entail a quota to answer to, but otherwise you would be free to do as you pleased. If you want to eat steak every day, you would be free to do so, but then you might not be able to drive a car. Allowing everyone the same quota to me seems like the simplest and fairest idea, and then bargaining could always happen later on.
Annika Carlsson-Kanyama would like to see many different means of regulation combined. Legislation is one. She points out that it is not uncommon to use legislation as a means to regulate people’s behaviour.
- We have seen many regulations as far as safety and health are concerned, such as e.g. prohibiting smoking in pubs, or taxing non-nutritious victuals more heavily, or making seat belt usage mandatory. This could also be done in consideration of the climate. By extension, sustainable development is about health and safety, she says.
Smart communication
Additionally, she brings up the need to communicate research and existing knowledge in new ways. She calls for new product development and innovation and mentions e.g. the fast food chain Max whose menus state how many greenhouse gases each hamburger effects.
- This has caused an increased interest in vegetarian hamburgers, but I do not know whether it has also affected sales. Imagine we had individual emission quotas. That would make it even more interesting to find out to what extent various goods and services impact the environment, says Annika Carlsson-Kanyama.
It is essential to all communication and marketing to identify the target group and familiarise yourself with it. And this is where e.g. the gender aspect comes in.
- There are differences between women and men, and you need to be aware of them in order to e.g. market courses in ecodriving for men or get the message across that environment-friendly driving is important.
