11 December 2024, Berlin:
The EU 1.5° Lifestyles Project, a landmark initiative funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program, shows how European societies can transition to sustainable lifestyles in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C climate target. The research emphasizes the need for systemic structural reforms alongside impactful behavioural changes to mitigate climate change effectively. One of the main conclusions of the research is that – despite ambitious technological changes – no EU countries nor regions will be able to reduce carbon footprints to 1.5° levels by 2050 without addressing lifestyle changes.
Drawing on almost four years of research across Europe, the project findings identify key barriers that hinder sustainable transformations and offer actionable strategies for individuals, policymakers, businesses and civil society organisations in pursuit of sustainable lifestyles and societies.
Impactful lifestyle choices
The research identifies high-impact lifestyle changes across 4 domains: mobility, housing, nutrition, and leisure. Transitioning away from private, especially fossil-fueled cars can significantly cut personal emissions and improve wellbeing. In housing, replacing fossil-fuel based heating with heat pumps or renewable systems, improving insulation and opting for smaller and more energy efficient living spaces are essential steps. Adopting plant-based diets or significantly reducing meat and dairy consumption can dramatically lower food-related emissions. Finally, reducing air travel in favour of public transport can offer substantial climate benefits, particularly for frequent flyers.
Addressing structural barriers
The research highlights seven systemic barriers as significant obstacles to sustainability. Chief among these is the undifferentiated pursuit of growth, and with it the prioritisation of GDP over environmental and social wellbeing, which is fuelling unsustainable consumption. In addition, policies lack stringency, integration and coherence, often creating silos that hamper efforts towards transformative policy. Powerful vested interests, particularly from industries reliant on fossil fuels, resist change, while environmental and social costs remain externalized, allowing unsustainable choices to remain cheaper and more accessible.
Cultural narratives that equate material wealth with success further complicate the shift toward sustainable lifestyles. Social inequity exacerbates these challenges, limiting access to resources necessary for meaningful lifestyle changes. Finally, a lack of education and skills on sustainability undermines public and institutional capacity to act effectively.
Strategies for transformation
Recognizing the challenges of promoting climate and sustainability efforts in today’s crisis-filled and increasingly divided political environment, the EU 1.5° Lifestyles Project suggests four timely and resilient strategies to overcome these obstacles and drive meaningful lifestyle changes. First, it calls for an integrative pursuit of eco-social justice. Addressing inequities through policies such as progressive taxation, universal access to sustainable resources, and support for vulnerable populations ensures that no one is left behind in the transition to 1.5° lifestyles.
Second, and linked to the focus on eco-social justice, the project stresses the importance of building new coalitions among relevant stakeholders. Alliances across environmental and social actors, involving government, civil society, and business sectors, can drive collective action and counterbalance the influence of vested interests.
Third, the project findings underscore the need for targeted communication and refinement of societal narratives. Through education, media campaigns and storytelling, the alignment of sustainable lifestyles with values of community, health, and environmental harmony must be shown.
Finally, the project shows the need to redefine and reorganize responsibility to enable its sharing by citizens, governments, civil society organisations, and businesses. The current “responsibility ping-pong,” where each actor deflects responsibility onto others, precludes an effective pursuit of sustainable futures. Transparency, mandates and instruments for impact assessments can support this shift.
Regional insights
The effectiveness of these changes varies by country. The project zoomed in on 5 EU countries, each representative of a region or economy. Project results highlight country differences resulting from mobility and housing infrastructures, cultural traditions in food, awareness and information, as well as the role of historical experiences.
A collaborative call to action
“These findings highlight that achieving the 1.5°C target is not solely about individual actions but requires systemic transformation across sectors,” says Doris Fuchs, lead researcher at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam. “Success depends on focusing on eco-social justice and forming strong partnerships that involve citizens and stakeholders to challenge those supporting the unsustainable status quo.”
Next steps
In its final year, the EU 1.5° Lifestyles Project is focusing on co-creating targeted recommendations with stakeholders and disseminating practical guidance for citizens and decision-makers. These efforts aim to ensure that the pathways outlined in the report are actionable and widely adopted.
CONTACT
Project Lead: Prof. Doris Fuchs, Project Coordinator EU1.5°Lifestyles, Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS) & University of Münster: doris.fuchs@rifs-potsdam.de, Phone: +49 17652231089
-ENDS-
This press release was published by the EU1.5 Project. Read the full release.
