2.3 Reducing consumption

There is widespread and growing awareness of the non-sustainable patterns of consumption and the need to find ways of tackling the thorny issues of environmental impacts, economic and population growth, and technological change.

The lack of commitment on the part of governments to address such problems is attributed partly to their fear of losing power by upsetting voters with unpopular measures. There are only so many policy levers and so many combinations of fiscal and regulatory levers that governments can pull.

There are already well-established regulatory approaches to reducing energy consumption introduced by governments. These include energy taxes, building regulations and rationing in emergencies. In many countries, including the UK, raising energy prices and curbing consumption are politically unpopular measures. Governments can encourage behavioural changes, including sustainable consumption, through a range of incentives, including tax breaks for energy-saving products and services. Governments can also invest in renewable energy, build low-energy social housing and introduce appropriate legislation to combat unnecessary waste and CO₂ emissions.

• BBC News article ‘Taxing time to stabilise climate’ – Matt Prescott sets out his case as to why a carbon tax will make it cheaper to protect the environment.

• The Solar Solutions website article ‘Global warming’:

  • The basics

  • What can we do?

• BedZED and eco-village development – the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is a well known eco-village and one of the most coherent examples of sustainable living in the UK.