Rethinking Climate and Energy Policies

Johannes Buhl and José Acosta contributed two chapters to the publication "Rethinking Climate and Energy Policies", which was edited by Tilman Santarius (who was with the Wuppertal Institute until 2009), Hans Jakob Walnum, and Carlo Aall.

In "Labour Markets: Time and Income Effects from Reducing Working Hours in Germany", the authors analyse the time-use rebound effects of reducing working time with respect to an environmental dividend. A reduction in working hours is being considered to tackle issues associated with ecological sustainability, social equity and enhanced life satisfaction - a so-called triple dividend. The article explores how an increase in leisure time triggers a rearrangement of time and expenditure budgets, and thus the use of resources in private households.

Does it hold true that time-intensive activities replace resource-intensive consumption when people have more free time at their disposal? The results show that time savings due to a reduction in working time trigger relevant rebound effects in terms of resource use. However, the authors put the rebound effects following a reduction in working time into perspective. Time-use rebound effects lead to increased voluntary social engagement and greater life satisfaction, the second and third dividends.

The chapter "Indirect Effects from Resource Sufficiency Behaviour in Germany" empirically investigates indirect rebound effects arising from sufficiency behaviour. The notion of rebound effects commonly suggests that an efficiency strategy is found to be insufficient to address an absolute reduction of raw material consumption. Advocates of eco-sufficiency claim that renouncing affluent consumption could limit resource consumption appropriately. Still, the literature on sufficiency fails to empirically corroborate their strategy. In this chapter, re-spending of savings is analysed for abatement actions in the fields of housing, mobility and food. The chapter discusses findings concerning rebound effects from sufficiency with respect to policy implications and methodological issues.

"Rethinking Climate and Energy Policies" was published by Springer and is available for purchase online as the complete addition as well as individual chapters.