New Journal - NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE - Part ONE

Picture: Cover of the new journal Nature Climate Change

Here is a link to a new journal called Nature Climate Change

I have now had a good read of the Nature Climate Change Journal and it definately has some very interesting papers that may be useful to others including:

It isn't easy being green

How much do our friends influence our behaviour? This article looks at some of the psychological aspects of being green. Plus, I love the use of the Kermit the frog quote used by psychologist Dr Paul Stern "it isn't easy being green". It also argues that social science has a lot to offer when it comes to making society more green. This is not a huge suprise to me, given that people and society are involved in human induced climate change. 

Time to try Carbon labelling

"A Global Carbon-labelling scheme for consumer products" it is argued could help people select the lower Carbon option when shopping. Economic rational thinking suggests that people make their decisions based on full knowledge of the product. However, the Carbon price is not included information at this time. With this missing information, consumers will hopefully make better decisions. "Labels are a well established method for providing information", but are people willing to pay more for lower Carbon products or will more information pale when compared to choosing a cheaper (more carbon intensive) option? 

The authors admit that labels alone won't solve a complex problem, but they will give the consumer (and supply chains) the option to select a lower Carbon alternative. They conclude "The size of the consumer footprint suggests that only small shifts in purchasing behaviour could yeild large emissions reductions". Is greener consumption part of the answer (ecological modernisation) or is it a part of the problem ('green business as usual' from a deep green perspective)?

It also makes the point that firms may make changes and obtain positive reputation impacts, even if consumers don't change their behaviour in response to these Carbon labels. Also the complexities of Carbon labels is discussed (e.g. the need to include full life cycle analysis) and the fact that the ISO 14067 is being developed as a standard for world-wide usage. Interesting paper!

There are many more articles that may be of interest to other (e.g. "The Future of Food").

So check it out!!
 
** If you enjoyed this post please also check out:
 
New Journal - NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (Part TWO)

More Science posts here
 
More Social Science posts here
 
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