Abstract
The production of man-made goods for satisfying basic as well as extra-basic needs is endangering human security by causing climate change. When determining policy for the mitigation of climate change, there is a tendency to target production and producers. An alternative approach may be to look at consumption, and gear policy towards changing what consumers wish to purchase and consume. As India ‘develops’ in terms of a rapidly increasing GDP, it has also become the third highest emitter of Carbon Dioxide. Indians are consuming more, not only in aggregate but also on a per capita basis. Therefore, while it is well recognized that the rise in population contributes towards raising total consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, it must also be conceded that individual consumption behavior, because it impacts per capita emissions, requires the attention of policy makers. The objective of this research is to see how the quantity and composition of the average Indian’s consumption of goods and services has changed in the past two decades, and whether there are differences in consumption behavior based on rural or urban residence and on expenditure class. The changes and the differences have implications for emissions of greenhouse gases. Identifying them, therefore, helps the policy maker to locate the products as well as the consumer groups that need to be targeted.
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Notes
- 1.
Using the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) method.
- 2.
The increase has been from 0.8 metric tons in 1990 to 1.1 metric tons in 2000 (38 %), and to 1.4 metric tons in 2009 (an increase of 75 % since 1990). Further, it is expected to reach a range of 2.77 to 5 metric tons by 2031 (mongabay.com 2006; UN Statistics Division 2012; CDIAC 2012; Report of the Swedish Ministry of Environment 2009).
- 3.
There may be other kinds of grouping of consumers on the basis of age, education and profession. Other studies, however, indicate that in developing countries age is not important in consumption decisions, and there are conflicting evidences on education and profession (Wodon 1999; Dietz et al. 2007). Moreover, the National Sample Survey provides data on the first two categories (class and rural/urban location) only.
- 4.
This should be true even if the katcha houses require greater maintenance, with regular replacement of some of the materials, because most of these materials are normally collected from forests and other areas surrounding the houses, and are renewable.
- 5.
It may be questioned whether we can compare rural and urban consumption levels with the help of MPCE, as there may be differences in rural and urban prices. NSS data on prices in rural and urban areas (Deaton 2008, 47) indicates that prices in urban India are on average higher by only about 7 % (2004–2005), with the difference being much lower for food items (2.4 %). One can therefore take MPCE differentials to reflect consumption differentials, except in cases where the differentials are very minor. It should, however, be conceded that if one corrects the MPCE for prices to get real consumption, the rural consumption would be marginally greater, especially for non-foods.
- 6.
Several factors, such as the marked difference in per-person GDP, in addition to the absence of demonstration effects, the lack of access to products (or types of products) and the lesser need for certain products in rural areas, may be the reason behind the lower MPCE in rural India.
- 7.
Pan (betel leaf, an intoxicant), tobacco and other intoxicants, fuel and light, clothing and footwear and medical expenses.
- 8.
Education, conveyance, consumer services excluding conveyance, miscellaneous goods and entertainment, rent, taxes/cesses and durable goods.
- 9.
Assuming that food production causes less emissions compared to non-foods (IPCC 2007, 627).
- 10.
Dried cow dung.
- 11.
Which is cow dung shaped into discs and sun-dried.
- 12.
Given that in India electricity is largely produced from coal so that its production causes a great deal of pollution – moreover, a great deal of electricity is lost in transmission, implying even greater emissions per unit use.
- 13.
The range is from 5.77 to 3.53 (rural) and from 5.9 to 2.87 (urban).
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Dutta, M. (2017). Consumption, Climate Change and Human Security: Targeting Consumer Groups for the Mitigation of Climate Change in India. In: Behnassi, M., McGlade, K. (eds) Environmental Change and Human Security in Africa and the Middle East. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45648-5_9
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