The influence of consumer behavior on climate change: The case of switzerland

Abstract

Reducing material flows and their associated environmental impacts substantially con-tributes to moving toward a more sustainable society. Both individual consumption behavior and governmental regulations play a crucial role in reaching sustainability goals. In this article, we present a Material Flow Analysis combined with a simplified Life Cycle Assessment of the Swiss econ-omy. Results were linked to an analysis of consumption patterns. This allowed us to evaluate the direct influence of consumer behavior on national greenhouse gas emissions using a consumption-based approach and the quantification of the range of these emissions from different lifestyles. We conclude that the consumer has a direct influence on slightly more than 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the Domestic Material Consumption. If everybody were to behave like the 20% of the population with the most climate-friendly behavior, emissions would decrease by merely 16%. Cooperation between stakeholders at all levels of society is therefore needed. This study pro-vides a contribution to decreasing material and energy consumption and defining possible future pathways with the final aim to bring anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions down to zero in Swit-zerland.