1.5° lifestyle changes: Exploring consequences for individuals and households

Low-carbon behaviour changes are essential for achieving the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius. Increasingly, it is recognised that such behaviour changes cause further effects in individuals' lifestyles, which are important to understand for the success of such low-carbon behaviour changes. Rebound effects can occur that undermine the carbon savings, and individual well-being can suffer leading to decreased acceptance of changes and undermine broader sustainability goals. This paper systematically and empirically maps what types of effects individuals experience with low-carbon lifestyle changes, what desirable effects are encouraged and how undesirable effects can be addressed and how undesirable effects can be addressed.

For this purpose, we adopted a qualitative research approach, conducting five workshops with a total of 84 participants across five EU countries (Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Sweden) who had changed their lifestyles by adopting significant low-carbon lifestyle options. In the workshops, the consequences of four low-carbon lifestyle changes – giving up (1) car ownership, (2) flying, (3) meat, or (4) living space – were explored using simplified cause-effect diagrams, personal written reflections and discussions in focus groups.

Our results point to the relevance of intrinsic motivation to explain the likelihood for rebounding as well as the other social effects of the behaviour change on the individual and household. Findings indicated a wide range of both negative and positive effects related to feelings and perceptions of individual freedom, mental and physical conditions, and social consequences. Intrinsically motivated individuals showed a high awareness of the problem of rebounding and appeared more able to cope with negative consequences in general and reduce them. Monetary savings from a behaviour change increase the likelihood for rebounding; however, citizens with higher environmental awareness reported re-spending on other low-carbon behaviours and technologies indicating positive spillover effects. Finally, we observed the strong supporting effects of social communities for individuals to manage the negative consequences of low-carbon behaviour changes.