Second comment on 'The climate mitigation gap : Education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions'
(2018) In Environmental Research Letters 13(6).- Abstract
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... (More)
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.
(Less)
- author
- Pedersen, Rebecca Laycock LU and Lam, David P.M.
- publishing date
- 2018-06
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- behaviour change, birth control, climate change, collective action, consumption, family planning, sustainability
- in
- Environmental Research Letters
- volume
- 13
- issue
- 6
- article number
- 068001
- publisher
- IOP Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85049801578
- ISSN
- 1748-9318
- DOI
- 10.1088/1748-9326/aac9d0
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
- id
- 9ef5476a-0ab8-4720-9cfa-7a67098ccdf3
- date added to LUP
- 2024-09-18 14:59:21
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:31:17
@article{9ef5476a-0ab8-4720-9cfa-7a67098ccdf3,
abstract = {{<p>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.</p>}},
author = {{Pedersen, Rebecca Laycock and Lam, David P.M.}},
issn = {{1748-9318}},
keywords = {{behaviour change; birth control; climate change; collective action; consumption; family planning; sustainability}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
publisher = {{IOP Publishing}},
series = {{Environmental Research Letters}},
title = {{Second comment on 'The climate mitigation gap : Education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions'}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aac9d0}},
doi = {{10.1088/1748-9326/aac9d0}},
volume = {{13}},
year = {{2018}},
}