It’s not rocket science: Countries with a high GDP per capita have larger carbon footprints than places where it is low.
This is because richer people tend to consume more goods and services, meaning more greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere.
But another differentiation seems to exist: The carbon footprint between men and women.
An analysis published earlier this month by ‘Banque de France’ shows that single men have on average a bigger carbon footprint than single women in Sweden.
Singles in general have a higher than average carbon footprint because they have less pooling capacity than a family.
For instance, they may drive to work alone, whereas a family could share a car.
However, there are some more gender-specific criteria, according to the study.
One of those is that the total expenditure of a single man is 2% higher than that of a single woman, while items that men tend to consume more of are responsible for 16% more greenhouse gases (GHGs) on average.
Solo males also spend more on GHG-intensive goods and services, including transport (45%) and holidays (24%).
Single women tend to consume more products and services with a small environmental footprint.
Explaining this disparity in gender
The objective of this study was to expose differences between consumers, with the findings helping us understand the climatic impacts of the final consumer rather than producers.
It highlighted the role gender can play, among other criteria such as income or geographical location, in environment-related analyses.
Taking into consideration consumer habits based on gender could help environmental education.
As the report noted: “National public policies and international policy frameworks could benefit from taking into account gender and environment interactions to enhance their effectiveness and their articulation [of] climate justice objectives.”
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