• Energy Research

Climate change mitigation to the 1.5 °C calls for significant and extensive climate actions. Nordic countries are showing high engagement to climate change mitigation while the consumption and lifestyle-based carbon footprints are among the global highest. Majority of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are connected to household consumption where various behavioral changes have been presented in order to reduce the personal carbon footprints. Previous research has shown how behaviors are connected to the living environment and urban structure, which have shown having an impact in forming variations in our lifestyles and behavioral patterns. In this study, with a survey dataset of ∼8000 respondents across the five Nordic countries, the engagement of respondents to different climate and carbon mitigation actions were analyzed and linked to their calculated carbon footprints. Three types of behavioral clusters were found among the respondents, one presenting conscious pro-climate behavior, one relating to frugality behavior, and one cluster related to self-sufficient behavior. The pro-climate behavioral intentions were present more in urbanized areas together with high climate motivation, whereas frugality behavior was level across the urban gradient, and finally respondents from less urbanized areas emphasized self-sufficient behavior. The stated behavioral intentions of the respondents were in contrast to their carbon footprints. Carbon footprints related to leisure consumption were highest in the urban regions and everyday consumption related footprints in the rural regions. Interestingly, only frugality behavior was associated with lower carbon footprints both in everyday and leisure consumption categories, whereas climate conscious behavior was positively related to leisure consumption footprint but negatively related to everyday consumption. The findings emphasize the variation of lifestyles based on different actions in different urban forms where the engagement to climate change mitigation presents differently. The results underline the importance of understanding the role that the built environment plays in being linked to the behavioral patterns and the need to increase the knowledge of the climate impacts of behavioral choices.

Climate change mitigation to the 1.5 °C calls for significant and extensive climate actions. Nordic countries are showing high engagement to climate change mitigation while the consumption and lifestyle-based carbon footprints are among the global highest. Majority of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are connected to household consumption where various behavioral changes have been presented in order to reduce the personal carbon footprints. Previous research has shown how behaviors are connected to the living environment and urban structure, which have shown having an impact in forming variations in our lifestyles and behavioral patterns. In this study, with a survey dataset of ∼8000 respondents across the five Nordic countries, the engagement of respondents to different climate and carbon mitigation actions were analyzed and linked to their calculated carbon footprints. Three types of behavioral clusters were found among the respondents, one presenting conscious pro-climate behavior, one relating to frugality behavior, and one cluster related to self-sufficient behavior. The pro-climate behavioral intentions were present more in urbanized areas together with high climate motivation, whereas frugality behavior was level across the urban gradient, and finally respondents from less urbanized areas emphasized self-sufficient behavior. The stated behavioral intentions of the respondents were in contrast to their carbon footprints. Carbon footprints related to leisure consumption were highest in the urban regions and everyday consumption related footprints in the rural regions. Interestingly, only frugality behavior was associated with lower carbon footprints both in everyday and leisure consumption categories, whereas climate conscious behavior was positively related to leisure consumption footprint but negatively related to everyday consumption. The findings emphasize the variation of lifestyles based on different actions in different urban forms where the engagement to climate change mitigation presents differently. The results underline the importance of understanding the role that the built environment plays in being linked to the behavioral patterns and the need to increase the knowledge of the climate impacts of behavioral choices.

Funding Information: The study was funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland (Co-Carbon 335201; 336238). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Cities are hotspots of anthropogenic activity and consumption. Thus, the consumption-based carbon footprints of their residents are pronounced. However, the beneficial climate impacts attributable to individual residents, such as carbon sequestration and storage (CSS) provided by residential green spaces and housing, have received less attention in the scientific literature. This review article presents an overview of the current research on the urban residential environment's CSS potential and argues for its inclusion in the so-called carbon handprint potential of individual consumers. The focus of existing research is on developed countries, and in empirical studies the absence of compiling literature presents a clear research gap. Most current potential is estimated to lie within the carbon pools of residential vegetation, soils and wooden construction, with biochar and other biogenic construction materials presenting key future development pathways. The underlying background variables guiding the formation of a residential carbon pool were identified as extremely complex and interconnected, broadly classified into spatial, temporal and socioeconomic factor categories. Our findings suggest that there is significant potential for growth in the residential CSS capacity, but substantial efforts from the scientific community, urban planners and policy-makers, and individual residents themselves are needed to realise this. Peer reviewed

Funding Information: The study was funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland (Co-Carbon 335201; 336238). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Cities are hotspots of anthropogenic activity and consumption. Thus, the consumption-based carbon footprints of their residents are pronounced. However, the beneficial climate impacts attributable to individual residents, such as carbon sequestration and storage (CSS) provided by residential green spaces and housing, have received less attention in the scientific literature. This review article presents an overview of the current research on the urban residential environment's CSS potential and argues for its inclusion in the so-called carbon handprint potential of individual consumers. The focus of existing research is on developed countries, and in empirical studies the absence of compiling literature presents a clear research gap. Most current potential is estimated to lie within the carbon pools of residential vegetation, soils and wooden construction, with biochar and other biogenic construction materials presenting key future development pathways. The underlying background variables guiding the formation of a residential carbon pool were identified as extremely complex and interconnected, broadly classified into spatial, temporal and socioeconomic factor categories. Our findings suggest that there is significant potential for growth in the residential CSS capacity, but substantial efforts from the scientific community, urban planners and policy-makers, and individual residents themselves are needed to realise this. Peer reviewed