Analysing local environmental footprints of luxury consumption

  • May 22, 2024
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Analysing local environmental footprints of luxury consumption

Sub: Environment

Sec: Climate change

Tag: environmental footprints

Context:

  • Climate change is a global concern. Water scarcity and air pollution are often localized or regional issues. Excessive water use in one region doesn’t directly affect other areas. Thus, focusing on local environmental issues is crucial, and understanding household environmental footprints is important.

Environmental/Ecological Footprint:

  • The ecological footprint serves as a metric to gauge human dependence on natural resources, revealing the environmental impact of specific lifestyles or businesses.

How are household environmental footprints distributed in India?

  • A recent study titled “Water, Air Pollution and Carbon Footprints of Conspicuous/Luxury Consumption in India” examines the environmental impact of affluent individuals in India.
  • It highlights the CO2, water, and PM2.5 footprints associated with luxury consumption choices among different economic classes.
  • The study contrasts these footprints with those from non-luxury consumption.
  • Luxury consumption includes dining out, vacations, furniture, social events, and more.

How were environmental impacts assessed in this study?

  • Utilized input/output analysis of the entire economy.
  • Mapped household consumption to resources/materials involved in production.
  • Captured and aggregated indirect/embedded environmental impacts at each production stage.
  • Quantified water usage through the water footprint.
  • Assessed PM2.5 footprint from embedded and direct emissions (e.g., fuelwood, kerosene, vehicular fuels).
  • Measured CO2 footprint from embedded and direct emissions related to household consumption.
  • Key Findings
    • Environmental footprints increase with household wealth.
    • The richest 10% have double the overall average environmental footprints.
    • Significant footprint surge from ninth to tenth decile:
      • Air pollution footprint increases by 68%.
      • Water footprint rises by 39%.
      • CO2 emissions increase by 55%.
    • Top decile’s high footprints are driven by luxury consumption.
    • Decile: Each of ten equal groups into which a population can be divided according to the distribution of values of a particular variable.
  • Key Contributors
    • Eating out/restaurants significantly raises environmental footprints in top decile households.
    • Consumption of fruits and nuts increases water footprint in the top decile.
    • Luxury items (personal goods, jewellery, dining out) elevate CO2 and air pollution footprints.
    • Poorer households’ use of fuels like firewood contrasts with modern energy transitions.
    • The top decile’s per capita CO2 footprint (6.7 tonnes/year) exceeds the global average (4.7 tonnes in 2010) and the Paris Agreement target (1.9 tonnes CO2eq/cap).

Implications

  • Sustainability efforts often overlook local/regional environmental issues.
  • Luxury consumption exacerbates issues like water scarcity and air pollution, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities.
  • Affluent groups can mitigate these impacts with measures like air-conditioned cars and air purifiers.
  • Multi-footprint analysis is crucial for addressing environmental justice and ensuring equitable sustainability efforts.
  • Policymakers should focus on reducing consumption levels of affluent households to meet sustainability goals.

Source: TH

Analysing local environmental footprints of luxury consumption Environment environmental footprints