Potential for Climate Change Mitigation Through Education
Dr Dave Reay School of Geosciences (SAGES member), University of Edinburgh;
Prof Pete Higgins School of Education, University of Edinburgh;
Dr Charles Warren, School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St Andrews (SAGES
member).
E-mail: David.Reay@ed.ac.uk Tel: 0131 6507723 URL: www.ghgonline.org
Project Description
Domestic (direct and indirect) energy use and private transport contribute more than 75% of total
anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland and UK-wide (ONS, 2004). Increased public
awareness and education provide a potentially very powerful mechanism to reduce these
emissions, and to make carbon taxation or rationing more palatable. This studentship will establish
a Business As Usual (BAU) scenario for domestic greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland and the
UK up to 2050, using projected population growth, affluence, and climate change impacts (to
inform changes in household energy-use arising from reduced heating/increased cooling
demands). The study will then quantify the potential for different forms of awareness-raising
(Smart-metering, energy labelling, advertising) and education (Eco-schools, curricula) to reduce
emissions relative to this BAU scenario. Findings for Scotland will then be analysed in a UK-wide
context to establish the role such mitigation strategies may play in existing UK climate change
policy (60% reduction on CO2 emissions by 2050).
Project Aims
To assess:
1. GHG emissions from Scottish and UK households to 2050 based on projected changes in
climate, population and affluence (BAU scenario).
2. The origins of sustainability attitudes and behaviours and their impact on personal action.
3. The impact school-level education on attitudes to sustainable development in general and more
specifically on climate-forcing activities at a household and community level.
4. The impact and cost-effectiveness of public awareness schemes such as Smart-metering and
Energy efficiency labelling in terms of tonnes of GHG reduced relative to the BAU scenario.
5. Whether a carbon tax or ration would be acceptable to the public and in what form might this be
most effective.
6. How energy awareness, reaction to increased climate change, and household emissions might
vary across income groups.
Through desk and field-based research this project will build on recent studies by our group at the
University of Edinburgh into the influence of affluence on transport-related greenhouse gas
emissions (Korbetis, 2005), and the mitigation of domestic GHG emissions in the US (Korane and
Reay, in prep). It will also be informed by recent doctoral studies which take an international
comparative approach to environmental and sustainability education (Takano, 2004; Kandemiri,
2006).
Project Training
The nature of the project is interdisciplinary both in terms of methodological aspects and the mix of
scientific and social science elements. Specific training and development will include: the
construction of basic models and their verification; development of emission scenarios; use of
established and novel social survey techniques; use of cost-benefit analyses; and expertise in
knowledge-transfer techniques for a wide range of stakeholders.
References
Kandemiri, M. (2006). A Comparative Study of School-Based Environmental Education in Scotland and Zimbabwe.
Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh.
Korbetis M, Reay DS and Grace J (2006) New Directions: Rich in CO2. Atmospheric Environment, 40 (17), 3219-3220.
Office of National Statistics (ONS) (2004). The impact of UK households on the environment. Economic Trends, 611.
Takano, T. (2004). Bonding with the Land: Outdoor environmental education programmes and their cultural contexts.
Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh.
This project does not depend on any facilities, software or related expenditure that is not already in
place at the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews.
Summary
Direct and indirect emissions from households make up three-quarters of all man-made
greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland. This project will examine how emissions will change in the
future due to population, affluence and climate, and how they might be reduced through education.
Relevance to SAGES
The proposed project is truly interdisciplinary, bringing together the quantification and modelling of
carbon emissions with assessment of the societal drivers of such emissions and examination of
the educational levers through which significant reductions in emissions might be achieved.
Directly applicable to the Links with Society strand of SAGES, the project is also direct of
relevance to the Terrestrial Carbon Dynamics and Modelling themes.