Existing demand-side climate change mitigation policies neglect avoid options

Autor(en)

Alina Brad, Etienne Schneider, Christian Dorninger, Willi Haas, Carolin Hirt, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Simone Gingrich

Abstrakt

Demand-side options are increasingly recognized for their potential to mitigate climate change while reducing reliance on novel carbon dioxide removal. However, systematic analyses of implemented demand-side mitigation policy mixes remain scarce, compromising assessment and exploration of effective and feasible demand-side policies. Here, we provide a multilevel analysis of the evolution, composition, and foci of demand-side mitigation policy mixes in the transport and housing sector from 1995 to 2024, focusing on the EU, the federal Austrian level and two provincial levels (Vienna, Lower Austria). Our high-resolution policy database features 356 demand-side measures, systematically classified according to policy target, instrument type, and the avoid-shift-improve framework. We find that existing policy mixes heavily rely on shift and improve measures, critically neglecting mitigation potentials of avoid options as well as certain policy areas. This suggests an urgent need to broaden demand-side policy mixes and explore strategies that increase the political feasibility of avoid options.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Institut für Internationale Entwicklung, Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

Journal

Communications Earth and Environment

Band

6

ISSN

2662-4435

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02800-5

Publikationsdatum

12-2025

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

506010 Politikfeldanalyse

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Allgemeine Umweltwissenschaft, Allgemeine Erdkunde und Planetologie

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 – Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/e02f92e1-2620-4841-92e0-11d123c5a6fa