The need for per capita reductions in carbon emissions to align with the Paris Agreement is a key challenge for European policymaking. The current EU average per capita carbon footprint far exceeded the necessary levels, requiring rapid and transformative changes in lifestyles and consumption patterns. Münster University (now RIFS Potsdam) and Radius successfully organised a European Stakeholder Thinking Lab on EU 1.5° Lifestyles in Brussels last September, to address key structural barriers to achieving a 1.5° transformation on the EU level.
The workshop, held in Brussels on 15 September 2023, gathered participants from different EU institutions, civil society organisations, and networks, and aimed to foster collaboration among stakeholders to create positive policy narratives, map EU stakeholder attitudes towards transformative change, and explore opportunities for influence towards social-ecological transformation.
During the workshop, the seven key structural barriers for 1.5° Lifestyles were discussed, formulated as enablers: these include overcoming the economic growth paradigm, creating consistent policies, overcoming vested interests, giving economic incentives, overcoming inequity, integrating information and skills into education, and strengthening alternative narratives of the good life. The workshop also addressed the challenge of bringing change in a time of increasing societal divide and political polarisation.
The Chatham House Rule was applied to maintain confidentiality.
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RIFS Potsdam