Future historians may well conclude that this 3rd millennium began somewhere around 2020 with the outbreak of COVID-19, described as the "last nail in the coffin of globalisation”. The pandemic not only highlighted the multidimensional risks (health, economic, etc.) of our global interdependence, but also brought the entire economic system constructed since World War II to a grinding halt. The unprecedented disruption of the world’s industrial supply chains and soaring inflation that affected everybody was particularly hard for the low-income segments of society. The outbreak of war in Ukraine that followed undermined the food supply chain and raised energy prices even higher, resulting in a situation of stagflation (low economic growth and high inflation).

The shock we are facing today promises to be far more disruptive than previous ones, as the current energy, food and supply chain crises take hold amidst an ongoing climate crisis. These intertwined crises will not be resolved without questioning our modes of consumption and production, and hence our lifestyles. Being responsible for more than two-thirds of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through their consumption habits (mobility, heating, food, etc.), households are at the heart of climate issues. Academic research has largely demonstrated that citizen involvement and public policies designed to address behavioural change should be key elements of any effective climate policies. And that is where the Climate Campaigners project comes in.

The objective of this Policy Brief is to inform policymakers at all levels (European, national, regional, local) on the issues related to lifestyle changes in the context of the fight against global warming, and to encourage them to concentrate efforts and financial resources on 5 priority sectors. These sectors are identified as areas in which public authorities’ intervention is most needed (in order to remove the obstacles to sustainable ways of life) and would have the strongest impact in terms of carbon emissions mitigation.

Read more by downloading the report below.