Open AccessCarbon footprints, informed consumer decisions and shifts towards responsible agriculture, forestry, and other land uses?
Author(s) -
Meine van Noordwijk,
T.T. Pham,
Beria Leimona,
Lalisa Duguma,
Himlal Baral,
Nikhmatul Khasanah,
Sonya Dewi,
Peter A. Minang
Publication year - 2022
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.20517/cf.2022.02
Subject(s) - carbon footprint , greenhouse gas , footprint , agriculture , environmental resource management , natural resource economics , ecological footprint , politics , product (mathematics) , business , environmental economics , ecosystem services , land use , consumption (sociology) , metric (unit) , biodiversity , geography , economics , sustainability , political science , marketing , ecosystem , sociology , ecology , social science , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , law , biology
The urgent global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions depends on political commitments to common but differentiated responsibility. Carbon footprints as a metric of attributable emissions reflect individually determined contributions within, and aggregated national contributions between, countries. Footprints per unit product (e.g., of food, feed, fuel, or fiber) require a lifecycle analysis and support individual decisions on consumption and lifestyles. This perspective presents a framework for analysis that connects the various operationalizations and their use in informing consumer and policy decisions. Footprints show geographical variation and are changing as part of political-economic and social-ecological systems. Articulation of footprints may trigger further change. Carbon footprints partially correlate with water and biodiversity footprints as related ecological footprint concepts. The multifunctionality of land use, as a solution pathway, can be reflected in aggregated footprint metrics. Credible footprint metrics can contribute to change but only if political commitments and social-cultural values and responsibilities align.