Today, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) presented its third survey on Environmental Policies and Individual Behavior Change (EPIC) entitled 'How green is household behavior? Sustainable choices in a time of interlocking crises'. This analysis reveals that while households are willing to make eco-friendly choices, governments must take more significant steps to encourage sustainable behaviors by means of affordable and convenient environmentally friendly options, alongside concrete incentives for behavioral change. In the face of interconnected crises, governments must harness technological advancements and leverage renewable energy sources, affordable electric vehicles, and innovative solutions to reduce waste and enhance sustainability.
This survey followed earlier EPIC surveys in 2008 and 2011, and was conducted in mid-2022 across Belgium, Canada, France, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States involving over 17,000 households.
These are the key findings:
- Energy: Respondents showed a preference for energy-saving actions that require minimal effort, such as turning off lights (92 percent). However, the uptake of renewables and energy efficiency measures remains limited, with less than a third of households adopting technologies like heat pumps (30 percent), solar panels (29 percent), and battery storage (27 percent).
- Transport: Despite the need for greener mobility, the majority of households still heavily rely on fossil fuel-driven cars (75 percent). Improved public transport options, including affordability, frequency, and coverage, would motivate 54 percent of regular car users to drive less. Insufficient charging infrastructure poses a challenge for the adoption of electric vehicles, as 33 percent of respondents reported a lack of charging stations within a 3 km radius of their homes.
- Waste: While reusable shopping bags are widely used among consumers (83 percent), there is room for improvement when it comes to buying second-hand (37 percent) and renting goods (20 percent). Access to convenient drop-off and recycling services significantly reduces mixed waste generation by 26 percent and 42 percent respectively. Charging for mixed waste encourages households to compost 55 percent of their food waste, compared to 35 percent for those without such charges.
- Food: Affordability, taste, freshness, and nutritional value outweigh environmental considerations when making food purchases. Dairy products are frequently consumed by 69 percent of households, while 24 percent report consuming red meat multiple times a week. Less than half of respondents were open to substituting meat with lab-grown alternatives.
- COVID-19 Impact: The pandemic has brought lasting changes to certain behaviors, such as increased remote work. However, other environmentally related behaviors saw less significant shifts. A majority (57 percent) of respondents anticipated flying as much post-COVID as before, while 28 percent expected to fly less. 29 percent planned to eat out less, while 17 percent anticipated increased dining out. Likewise, 25 percent expected a decrease in takeout orders, with 15 percent expecting to order more frequently.
Jo Tyndall, OECD Environment Director, emphasized: "This Survey shows that availability, affordability and convenience are the key drivers for people to make environmentally sound decisions, and there’s still a lot of room for improvement. Governments should seek to remove barriers to sustainable choices and to improve the incentives for making these choices. Households need greater access to all manner of more sustainable options – from enhanced public transport and accessible car charging stations to renewable energy and collection services for different types of waste."
Source: OECD
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