The unequal distribution of household carbon footprints in Europe and its link to sustainability

Abstract

Non-technical summary The distribution of household carbon footprints is largely unequal within and across countries. Here, we explore household-level consumption data to illustrate the distribution of carbon footprints and consumption within 26 European Union countries, regions and social groups. The analysis further sheds light on the relationships between carbon footprints and socially desirable outcomes such as income, equality, education, nutrition, sanitation, employment and adequate living conditions. Technical summary We need a good understanding of household carbon distributions in order to design equitable carbon policy. In this work, we analyse household-level consumer expenditure from 26 European Union (EU) countries and link it with greenhouse gas (GHG) intensities from the multiregional input–output database EXIOBASE. We show carbon footprint distributions and elasticities by country, region and socio-economic group in the context of per capita climate targets. The top 10% of the population with the highest carbon footprints per capita account for 27% of the EU carbon footprint, a higher contribution to that of the bottom 50% of the population. The top 1% of EU households have a carbon footprint of 55 tCO2eq/cap. The most significant contribution is from air and land transport, with 41% and 21% among the top 1% of EU households. Air transport has a rising elasticity coefficient across EU expenditure quintiles, making it the most elastic, unequal and carbon-intensive consumption category in this study. Only 5% of EU households live within climate targets, with carbon footprints below 2.5 tCO2eq/cap. Our analysis points to the possibility of mitigating climate change while achieving various well-being outcomes. Further attention is needed to limit trade-offs between climate change mitigation and socially desirable outcomes. Social media summary EU top 1% of households emit 22 times the per capita climate targets. Only 5% of EU households live within the targets.