Pollution Embodied in Norwegian Consumption

Abstract

A promising way to reduce environmental impacts of consumer expenditure is through the encouragement of more sustainable consumption patterns. This requires a consistent and accurate framework to identify the most sustainable lifestyles and consumption patterns. With the increase in international trade, it is becoming increasingly important to accurately determine environmental impacts resulting from imports. Many previous studies have unrealistically assumed that imports are produced using domestic production technology. For countries with diverging technology and energy mixes the likely errors are significant. This study applies a methodology that explicitly includes technology differences to the case of Norway. It is found that the majority of emissions in Norwegian consumption are embodied in imports; signifying the importance of considering regional technology differences. The methodology is then used to determine environmental impacts at three levels; national, aggregated households, and household types.