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Dear Reader,
In 2019, the European Union committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050 in order to combat climate change and mitigate the associated risks. This may seem like a distant future, but in reality, we should accelerate our pace and urgently improve our actions if we are to achieve this goal. As the Union's most ambitious strategy to date, the EU Green Deal sets out a comprehensive plan for all actors in society to contribute to a sustainable and inclusive future for all.
A substantial share of greenhouse gas emissions is caused by the cumulative sum of our everyday choices. Our living, traveling, and eating habits - all have an impact on the environment. At the same time, this means that there is a huge potential to drive positive change by inspiring, promoting, and enabling lifestyle changes for more sustainability. Our new Horizon 2020 project,PSLifestyle will engage four million European citizens across eight countries to help close the gap between climate awareness and climate action. Drawing on our behaviour change expertise in programmes like the Academy of Change, PSLifestyle aims to build a data-driven movement in Europe to analyse and subsequently reduce citizens’ carbon emissions.
On the other hand, we are working closely with companies to support them in optimising their products and services toward low carbon emissions beyond the production phase. Scope three of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol requests companies to report their entire value chain emissions, not only the direct ones. This includes emissions caused in the use phase by consumers. At the CSCP initiative Consumer Insight Action Panel (CIAP) we are working with key actors in sectors such as electronics and packaging to not only make consumer insights an indispensable part of understanding where in the product lifecycle an intervention needs to be made, but also support them to empower and enable consumers to reduce emissions in the use phase. As part of the CIAP Club for Sustainable Packaging Solutions we have published policy recommendations for effective interventions aiming at dismantling packaging myths and facilitating recycling-friendly separation among others.
Climate neutrality is not a choice; it is the only way forward and it calls for immediate action and a systemic change. In fact, we can no longer afford to think of neutrality alone; we need to amplify our efforts and think toward climate positivity and regeneration for a good life for all on our planet - more on this in our next newsletter.
Until then, we wish you a healthy and safe end of the year and a good start into the next!
Michael Kuhndt,
CSCP Executive Director
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