CONSENSUS OVERVIEW Challenges and Opportunities for

SC in the Irish Context CONSENSUS CONFERENCE | NUI GALWAY | 18th MAY 2012

Frances Fahy | Mary Jo Lavelle | Jessica Pape

Overview

!  Challenges and Opportunities for SC in the Irish Context

!  Challenges for Behavioural Change

!  Researching Sustainable Lifestyles in Ireland

!  Sustainable Living Survey

!  Key Trends and Results

!  Current Focus: QoL & Sustainable Consumption (Source: Irish Times, 2011)

Research Context •  Examining how a shift towards more sustainable consumption

might be measured encouraged and governed

•  Household consumption: the selection, purchase, use, maintenance, repair and disposal of any product or services by members of a household (OECD 2001)

•  Research at the international scale (e.g. Quist et al. 2001; Hobson, 2006; Tudor et al., 2011)

Energy: !  Ireland’s residential sectors’ Total Primary

Energy Requirement increased by 31% between 1990 and 2004.

!  Higher energy usage per dwelling and higher CO2 emissions than the EU averages:

"  Ireland was 31% above the EU average energy usage per dwelling.

"  36% above the EU-27 average (SEI, 2008).

Water Consumption:

!  Ireland – 148 litres per person per day in

comparison to Denmark (116 litres).

!  High levels of water leakage; up to 55% in

certain areas…. costing the state almost €1bn

annually (EPA, 2008).

Transport:

!  Ireland amongst the most car dependent

societies in Europe (Gkartzios & Scott, 2007).

!  An increasing reliance on the private motor

vehicle as the preferred mode of transport

(Clinch et al., 2002).

Challenges for Sustainable Consumption in the Irish Context

•  No coherent framework for SC; fragmented •  General consumer policy weak •  No single government department has overall

responsibility for the area of SC... policy goals and objectives in this area have been limited to date

•  All island cooperation

Policy Responses

•  Use of Economic Instruments – Plastic bag levy – PBU waste charges – New VRT & emissions based motor taxes

•  Communicative Instruments –  Information Campaigns – Environmental Education Programmes

Complexity of Consumption Behaviour

•  Variety of factors that influence behaviour – Economic – Political – Socio-technical – Sociological – Socio-psychological

•  Calls to develop ‘evidence-based’ policies to encourage behavioural change

Gaps in Knowledge •  Need to establish detailed, comprehensive and

coherent baseline information about the form of consumption patterns

•  Improved understanding of why people act the way that they do in particular (changing) socio-economic and environmental circumstances

•  Reflect on the impacts of SC policy tools and examine wider governance processes that affect how these policies are generated, shaped and implemented.

Methodology •  Extensive questionnaire survey

•  Data collection - June 2010 to May 2011

•  Sampling – –  1,500 Households

–  Selected counties: Derry, Dublin & Galway

–  30 Electoral Districts (EDs) –  Multi-cluster sampling- 500

households in each of 3 counties – 250 urban/ 250 rural divide

–  Geo-directory (Republic) & Pointer database (Northern Ireland)

Dublin

Galway

(Source:(Bryman,(2006)#

Key Survey Results

•  Preliminary analysis- emerging and existing trends and patterns of consumption.

•  Public dissemination of survey results – policymakers, NGOs, members of public.

•  Results factsheets: •  Water •  Energy •  Transport •  Food •  Food Waste •  Environmental Concern &

Attitudes •  Information & Awareness

Examples of Key Findings:

Sustainable Lifestyles and Quality of Life

•  A critical issue …the relationship between perceptions of QoL &

sustainable consumption (Doran, 2007; Hinton & Goodman, 2009). •  Arguments that economic growth does not equate to improved

QoL or wellbeing (Diener & Seligman, 2004; Lane, 2001; Layard, 2005; Jackson, 2004).

•  SC policies are unlikely to be successful if they detract from an

individual’s quality of life (Bell & Morse, 2003).

•  Environmental actions unlikely ..…if SC policies impinge too severely on the individual’s time, money & comfort (Stern & Aronson, 1984).

Important Issues for Quality of Life:

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Good health

Nice place to live

Good family life

Good standard of living

Good education

Job satisfaction

Good work-life balance

Good Community life/relationships

Having religious or spirtual beliefs

Good social life

Other

Most important thing for an individual'squality of life

Impact of Recent Economic Downturn on Quality of Life:

• No differences noted across the genders; in terms of whether or not their quality of life had been affected by the economic downturn (P>0.05).

• Variations were found to exist in terms of participants’ rural or urban residential locations and their agreement with this statement (X2-=4.196, df=1, P<0.05).

• Differences were noted between respondents in the different age categories and their agreement with this statement (χ2 =24.387, df=2, P<0.05).

• Homeowners (64%), in comparison to renters (65%) and those whose accommodation was provided rent-free (68%), were less likely to report that their quality of life had been affected (χ2 =6.955a, df=3, P<0.05).

'My overall quality of life has been affected by this recent economic downturn'

0102030

405060

StronglyAgree

Agree Neither Agreenor Disagree

Disagree StronglyDisagree

Don't Know

Perc

en

tag

es

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

100

Ability to keep house adequately heated

Ability to take an annual holiday abroad

Ability to purchase your weekly food shopping

Ability to socialise with family or friends

Ability to own a new car

Perc

enta

ges

In what way has the recent economic downturn affected the respondents' quality of life?

Willingness to Accept Cuts in Standards of Living….

'I would be willing to accept cuts in my standards of living; if it helped to protect the environment'

0100200300400500600700800

StronglyAgree

Agree Neither Agreenor Disagree

Disagree StronglyDisagree

Don't Know

Fre

qu

en

cie

s

Difference noted between men and women and their willingness to accept cuts in their standards of living (χ2 =12.747a, df=1, P<0.001).

Respondents in the older age cohorts reported higher levels of willingness to accept cuts in their standards of living (χ2 =7.585, DF=2, P<0.05).

Differences noted between respondents in the different housing tenure groupings (χ2 =8.836a, DF=3, P<0.05).

Respondents in the highest income bracket (>€114,000) were least likely to report being willing to accept cuts in standards of living.

Perceptions of Luxury and Necessity……

Do respondents consider the following items to be luxuries or necessities?

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Car

Dishwas

her

Tumble

-dryer

Electric

show

er

Mircow

ave TV

Lapto

p/com

puter

Mobile

phon

e

Freq

uenc

ies

Luxury Necessity

Governing Sustainable Consumption Academic Publications:

•  Pape, J., Rau, H., Fahy, F., and Davies, A. (2011) ‘Developing Policies and Instruments for Sustainable Consumption: Irish Experiences and Futures’, Journal of Consumer Policy 34, (1) 25-42

•  Davies, A., Fahy, F. Rau, H. and Pape, J. (2010)

’Sustainable Consumption: practices and governance’, Irish Geography Vol.43 (1) 59-79