Low carbon footprint - A consequence of free will or of poverty? The impact of sufficiency orientation and deprivation on individual carbon footprints

Abstract

Private households account for at least 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, gaining a better understanding of the drivers behind carbon footprints is highly relevant. Traditionally, carbon footprint levels and material prosperity have been viewed as closely intertwined, with a low carbon footprint even seen as an indication of deprivation. However, a low carbon footprint can also arise from a sufficiency-oriented lifestyle. In our study, based on a 2022 demographically representative survey of the adult population in Germany, we estimate linear and multinomial regression models to investigate the influence of individuals' sufficiency orientation and deprivation on carbon footprints. We examine both the aggregated carbon footprint and its breakdown into specific activities, including space and water heating, electricity consumption, transport, and food. We find that having a higher sufficiency orientation is associated with a lower individual's aggregated carbon footprint and a lower carbon footprint of each specific activity, except space and water heating, ceteris paribus. In contrast, we only find evidence that deprivation negatively correlates with the carbon footprint related to transport. These results are valid across various robustness tests, and provide valuable insights for policy-making.