TY - JOUR A1 - Trotta, Gianluca A1 - Spangenberg, Joachim A1 - Lorek, Sylvia T1 - Energy efficiency in the residential sector: identification of promising policy instruments and private initiatives among selected European countries JF - Energy Efficiency N2 - Improving residential energy efficiency is widely recognized as one of the best strategies for reducing energy demand, combating climate change and increasing security of energy supply. However, progress has been slow to date due to a number of market and behavioural barriers that have not been adequately addressed by energy efficiency policies and programmes. This study is based on updated findings of the European Futures for Energy Efficiency Project that responds to the EU Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2014-15 theme 'Secure, clean and efficient energy'. This article draws on five case studies from selected European countries - Finland, Italy, Hungary, Spain, and the UK - and evaluates recent energy efficiency developments in terms of indicators, private initiatives, and policy measures in the residential sector. Our analysis shows that the UK government has implemented a better range of policies, coupled with initiatives from the private sector, aimed at improving energy efficiency. However, its existing conditions appear to be more problematic than the other countries. On the other hand, the lack of effective and targeted policies in Finland resulted in increased energy consumption, while in Hungary, Spain and Italy some interesting initiatives, especially in terms of financial and fiscal incentives, have been found. KW - energy efficiency policy KW - residential sector KW - European Union KW - NEEAPs KW - ESCOs Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-104617 UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12053-018-9739-0 VL - December 2018, vol. 11 IS - 8 SP - 2111 EP - 2135 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Alfredsson, Eva A1 - Bentsson, Magnus A1 - Szejnwald Brown, Halina A1 - Eisenhour, Cindy A1 - Lorek, Sylvia A1 - Stevis, Dimitris A1 - Vergragt, Philip T1 - Why achieving the Paris Agreement requires reduced overall consumption and production JF - Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy N2 - Technological solutions to the challenge of dangerous climate change are urgent and necessary but to be effective they need to be accompanied by reductions in the total level of consumption and production of goods and services. This is for three reasons. First, private consumption and its associated production are among the key drivers of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, especially among highly emitting industrialized economies. There is no evidence that decoupling of the economy from GHG emissions is possible at the scale and speed needed. Second, investments in more sustainable infrastructure, including renewable energy, needed in coming decades will require extensive amounts of energy, largely from fossil sources, which will use up a significant share of the two-degree carbon budget. Third, improving the standard of living of the world’s poor will consume a major portion of the available carbon allowance. The scholarly community has a responsibility to put the issue of consumption and the associated production on the research and policy agenda. KW - sustainable consumption and production KW - Paris agreement KW - climate change KW - Agenda 2030 KW - sustainable investments Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-106448 UR - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15487733.2018.1458815 SN - 1548-7733 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bengtsson, Magnus A1 - Alfredsson, Eva A1 - Cohen, Maurie A1 - Lorek, Sylvia A1 - Schroeder, Patrick T1 - Transforming systems of consumption and production for achieving the sustainable development goals: moving beyond efficiency JF - Sustainability Science N2 - The United Nations formulated the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015 as a comprehensive global policy framework for addressing the most pressing social and environmental challenges currently facing humanity. In this paper, we analyse SDG 12, which aims to ‘‘ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.’’ Despite long-standing political recognition of this objective, and ample scientific evidence both on its importance and on the efficacy of various ways of promoting it, the SDGs do not provide clear goals or effective guidance on how to accomplish this urgently needed transformation. Drawing from the growing body of research on sustainable consumption and production (SCP), the paper identifies two dominant vantage points—one focused on promoting more efficient production methods and products (mainly through technological improvement and informed consumer choice) and the other stressing the need to consider also overall volumes of consumption, distributional issues, and related social and institutional changes. We label these two approaches efficiency and systemic. Research shows that while the efficiency approach contains essential elements of a transition to sustainability, it is by itself highly unlikely to bring about sustainable outcomes. Concomitantly, research also finds that volumes of consumption and production are closely associated with environmental impacts, indicating a need to curtail these volumes in ways that safeguard social sustainability, which is unlikely to be possible without a restructuring of existing socioeconomic arrangements. Analysing how these two perspectives are reflected in the SDGs framework, we find that in its current conception, it mainly relies on the efficiency approach. On the basis of this assessment, we conclude that the SDGs represent a partial and inadequate conceptualisation of SCP which will hamper implementation. Based on this determination, this paper provides some suggestions on how governments and other actors involved in SDGs operationalisation could more effectively pursue SCP from a systemic standpoint and use the transformation of systems of consumption and production as a lever for achieving multiple sustainability objectives. KW - sustainable consumption and production KW - SDG implementation KW - systemic approaches KW - public policy Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-106615 UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-018-0582-1 VL - 13 IS - 6 SP - 1533 EP - 1547 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Laamanen, Mikko A1 - Wahlen, Stefan A1 - Lorek, Sylvia T1 - A moral householding perspective on the sharing economy JF - Journal of Cleaner Production N2 - In this paper, we scrutinise the sharing economy from a moral householding perspective and evaluate the moral justifications for a sustainable form of the sharing economy. We consider the emergence of normative moral justifications through householding practices that rest on local mobilisation of people in defence of communities and commitments against the adverse impacts of neoliberal market capitalism. Our perspective draws on Karl Polanyi's conceptualisation of householding, that is, autarchic, communistic provision in a closed community. Using timebanking as an example, we illustrate how a moral sharing economy can be mobilised in collective battles against the current neoliberal system of economic crisis. We contribute to the amassing sharing economy literature emphasising a central, yet missing element of the current discourse: householding as practices creating self-sufficiency and autonomy as well as combining both kin and stranger. KW - moral economy KW - sharing economy KW - householding KW - Polanyi KW - timebanking Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-106917 UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652618325733 VL - 202 SP - 1220 EP - 1227 ER -