It is never too late to give up, or is it? Revisiting policies for sustainable consumption

Abstract

Chapter 9, ‘It is never too late to give up, or is it? Revisiting policies for sustainable consumption’ by Carl Dalhammar presents the kaleidoscope of policies for sustainable consumption. While much of the early policy-related consumption research focused on pricing and consumer information, effective policies have been hard to implement. Even if policies have been implemented, there is little evidence of any significant effect. One explanation for the limited progress is that far too much focus has been, and is still, devoted to individual choices of consumers on the market when instead we need collective action to move forward. Another explanation is that often stronger steering is required, including policies that rely more on coercion, restrictions of choice, and strong economic incentives, rather than encouragement and voluntariness. The chapter then moves to analyse specific policies for the sharing and circular economies. Some inherent complexities and contradictions found in the visions and proposed policies of these concepts are discussed and problematized in the context of sustainable consumption governance. The chapter discusses one promising new policy development in Europe: incentivizing longer product lifetimes as a strategy to save resources. These policies may constitute a ‘game changer’ in the long run if they can affect consumers and markets. Future research is needed to identify and design new policies and policy packages that have real ‘leverage’ and could lead to greater systemic change.