Second comment on 'The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions'
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Second comment on 'The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions'. / Pedersen, Rebecca Laycock; Lam, David P. M.
In: Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 13, No. 6, 068001, 13.06.2018.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Second comment on 'The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions'
AU - Pedersen, Rebecca Laycock
AU - Lam, David P. M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2018/6/13
Y1 - 2018/6/13
N2 - Wynes and Nicholas (2017a Environ. Res. Lett. 12 1–9) recently published an article that reviewed academic and grey literature to identify the most impactful individual actions for reducing carbon emissions in developed countries, identifying having 'one fewer child' as by far the most impactful action. This action was recommended with little context considering its controversial nature. We argue that there are three issue-areas that Wynes and Nicholas should have engaged with to improve the clarity of their recommendations and reduced the potential for misunderstanding, which are (1) the extent to which individual actions in one's private life can address climate change in relation to collective actions and actions in the professional sphere (2) the role of overconsumption in driving climate change and (3) the extent to which family planning is a human right. We also suggest that engagement with these issue-areas are a step towards a better practice in academic writing on population as an environmental issue.
AB - Wynes and Nicholas (2017a Environ. Res. Lett. 12 1–9) recently published an article that reviewed academic and grey literature to identify the most impactful individual actions for reducing carbon emissions in developed countries, identifying having 'one fewer child' as by far the most impactful action. This action was recommended with little context considering its controversial nature. We argue that there are three issue-areas that Wynes and Nicholas should have engaged with to improve the clarity of their recommendations and reduced the potential for misunderstanding, which are (1) the extent to which individual actions in one's private life can address climate change in relation to collective actions and actions in the professional sphere (2) the role of overconsumption in driving climate change and (3) the extent to which family planning is a human right. We also suggest that engagement with these issue-areas are a step towards a better practice in academic writing on population as an environmental issue.
KW - behaviour change
KW - birth control
KW - consumption
KW - climate change
KW - collective action
KW - family planning
KW - sustainability
KW - Sustainability Science
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049801578&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/99f5cb20-c436-3145-8082-8fbbf0bbafb5/
U2 - 10.1088/1748-9326/aac9d0
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/aac9d0
M3 - Comments / Debate / Reports
VL - 13
JO - Environmental Research Letters
JF - Environmental Research Letters
SN - 1748-9318
IS - 6
M1 - 068001
ER -