Oecd Studies On Environmental Policy And Household Behaviour Greening Household Behaviour The Role Of Public Policy

This publication presents the main results and policy implications of an OECD survey of more than 10 000 households in 10 countries. It offers new insight into what policy measures really work, looking at what factors affect people’s behaviour towards the environment.

This publication presents the main results and policy implications of an OECD survey of more than 10 000 households in 10 countries. It offers new insight into what policy measures really work, looking at what factors affect people’s behaviour towards the environment.

This publication presents a data overview of the most recent round of the survey implemented in five areas (energy, food, transport, waste, and water) and 11 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Household choices – such as what to eat, how to get to work and how to heat our homes – have significant implications for the environment. With the urgency of environmental action and the need to shift to more sustainable consumption patterns, making more sustainable choices holds great potential to reduce environmental impacts.

Developing growth strategies that promote greener lifestyles requires a good understanding of the factors that affect people's behaviour towards the environment. Based on periodic surveys of more than 10 000 households, this publication presents responses from the most recent round of the OECD survey implemented in 2011, in 5 areas (energy, food, transport, waste and water) and 11 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The survey provides a common framework to collect unique empirical evidence for better policy design. Analysis comparing the data across countries, policy conditions and household characteristics reveals which measures most effectively change behaviour. Each round of the survey also allows to track changes over time and to explore new emerging issues. The new survey confirms the importance of providing the right economic incentives for influencing our decisions. The findings indicate that 'soft' measures such as labelling and public information campaigns also have a significant complementary role to play. Spurring desirable behaviour change requires a mix of these instruments. This edition completely replaces the previously posted 2013 edition.

Developing growth strategies that promote greener lifestyles requires a good understanding of what factors affect people's behaviour towards the environment. Recent OECD work based on periodic surveys of more than 10 000 households across a number of countries and areas represents a breakthrough by providing a common framework to collect unique empirical evidence for better policy design. This publication presents responses from the most recent round of the OECD survey implemented in 2011 in 5 areas (energy, food, transport, waste and water) and 11 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Analysis comparing the data across countries, policy conditions and households' characteristics reveals which measures most effectively change behaviour. Each round of the survey also allows to track changes over time and to explore new emerging issues. The new survey confirms the importance of providing the right economic incentives for influencing our decisions. The findings indicate that "soft" measures such as labelling and public information campaigns also have a significant complementary role to play. Spurring desirable behaviour change requires a mix of these instruments. This edition completely replaces the edition that was previously posted in 2011.

This publication presents the results of a survey conducted in 2011 on household behaviour regarding energy, food, transport, waste and water and covering 11 countries. This edition replaces the one posted in 2011.

Personal behaviour and choices in daily life, from what we eat to how we get to work or heat our homes, have a significant - and growing - effect on the environment. But why are some households greener than others? And what factors motivate green household choices? Answering these questions is vital for helping governments design and target policies that promote "greener" behaviour. The OECD's Environmental Policy and Individual Behaviour Change (EPIC) survey is designed to do just that. This large-scale household survey explores what drives household environmental behaviour and how policies may affect household decisions. It focuses on five areas in which households have significant environmental impact: energy, food, transport, waste and water. This policy paper is based on the second round of the EPIC survey, carried out in 2011 (the first was in 2008). The survey collected information from more than 12 000 households in Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

This report focuses on personal transport choices. It presents the results of follow-up analysis of the 2011 OECD Survey on Environmental Policy and Individual Behaviour Change (EPIC) survey where econometric techniques are applied. The report complements the overview of the survey data provided in the publication OECD (2014). The objective of the analysis is to understand the determinants of household choices in the following areas: the use of alternative modes of transportation car ownership, willingness-to-pay for an electric vehicles and the relative importance of environmental factors when buying a car. The results indicate that the choice of non-motorized modes of transportation is strongly correlated with the proximity of the destination and that attitudinal variables play only a minor role. The same is true for the use of public transport. Households that say that they trust information about environmental impact of products, are better educated about impact of private transport and are in favour of government actions to reduce CO2, tend to have a higher willingness to pay for electric vehicles.

The second round of the OECD Survey on Environmental Policy for Individual Behaviour Change (EPIC) was implemented in 2011. A publication providing an overview of the survey data from over 12 000 households in eleven countries (Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) is available. 1 Follow-up econometric analyses were conducted in each of the thematic areas covered (energy, food, transport, waste and water), as well as on cross-domain comparisons in environmental attitudes and behaviours. 2 This report presents a synthesis of main results from econometric analysis using the data from the 2011 EPIC survey, as well as policy implications.