Shared by Maurie Cohen on our mailing list.
The SCORAI Board is organizing a series of sessions at the Third International Conference of the Global Research Forum on Sustainable Production and Consumption being held June 27‒29, 2017 at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK. The theme of the event is “Sustainable Lifestyles, Livelihoods and the Circular Economy”.
We welcome contributions on the following three topics (all organized around the role of policy in fostering sustainable consumption and production). Abstracts (250 words) should be sent to the relevant session organizer listed below by Friday, October 28—our apologies for the rapid response time.
- Customizing sustainable consumption policies by income level (Organizer: Halina Brown)
It is now well established that household carbon footprints increase with income, and thus top earners disproportionately account for the greenhouse-gas emissions of most countries. However, the relationship is not linear across all income categories. For instance, in the United States, households in the top income decile earn 45% of national income and are responsible for 25% of energy consumption. These circumstances suggest that carbon-pricing policies are unlikely to have significant influence on such households but they might respond to a steeply progressive national income tax or to local ordinances that seek to limit home size through financial disincentives. Households in the bottom four income deciles spend an outsized proportion of income on energy, accounting for 10% of total income and 20% of energy consumption). Because these households would be most adversely affected by carbon pricing, equity considerations justify the need for various compensatory mechanisms (which might induce rebound effects). In these cases, the policy objective might be to try to hold constant the relatively low carbon footprint of these households while improving quality of life though non-monetary means and by increasing access to amenities that enable a dignified life. For middle-income households, a suite of policies that takes into account different demographics, cultural capital, dominant social practices, emerging age-specific cultural trends, and other locally and regionally relevant factors might be required.
- Innovations in local governance to regulate the size and location of new home construction (Organizer: Maurie Cohen)
The purchase of a home is typically both the biggest investment that a family undertakes and a key expression of socioeconomic standing, lifestyle aspiration, and social reproduction. The physical design and location of the house are furthermore important determinants of a household’s carbon footprint over an extended period of time. Home size affects the amount of energy required to heat, to cool, and to power the house, as well as the scale of interior furnishings and volume of daily water use. The location of the house determines the extent of automobile dependency, the resources required for upkeep of the grounds, and the social norms that are reinforced through mimetic behavior and other means. In the United States, home size and location are significant indicators that households use to measure progress and the long-standing pattern has been toward larger and larger houses. During the past six years, home size in the United States has increased by 12% and the average square footage of a newly constructed house is 2700 square feet. This situation is impelled by the mortgage-financing system, the property-taxation structure, the economics of home construction, the bubbles that are recurrent in housing markets, and the cultural norms of status signaling. This session aims to identify and elaborate options for policy-driven reductions in the size of new home construction. It will examine recent proposals to implement graduated property taxation, to establish ceilings on very large houses, to encourage preferences for “tiny houses” and accessory dwelling units, and other relevant ideas and experiences. The session will also consider alternative occupancy arrangements motivated by economic uncertainty due to increasing labor market flexibility and the decline of wage income.
- Policy support for business models that enable credible shifts toward less consumption (Organizer: Philip Vergragt)
During the recent Great Recession consumer confidence declined and many businesses experienced precipitous drops in revenue. These and related developments prompted interest in emerging sharing economy platforms to facilitate, for example, clothes swaps, tool libraries, vehicle and accommodation exchanges, and others. More recently the sharing economy has attracted sharp criticism for being coopted by corporate interests (Uber), leading to more rather than less consumption (AirBnB), reinforcing recreational shopping (second-hand clothing), and its marginal environmental impacts (tool libraries). Separately, we have witnessed the emergence of other companies that successfully manufacture goods from recycled materials or that use non-toxic and natural materials made under fair and humane conditions and with consideration for the local environment. But these commendable activities do not, in and of themselves, provide incentives for consumption reduction. This session aims to take a sober look at possible emergence of a new generation of businesses that strive to provide goods and services to consumers who, due to financial necessity or personal preferences, do not practice consumerist lifestyles. For example, what are the prospects for a construction company that builds modestly sized homes with fewer luxury appliances? What local policies would be supportive of such businesses that seek to provide for and enable consumption reduction?
