ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ«

This talk reports on findings from work with SEG colleagues under the previous CREDS Centre on citizen perceptions of co-benefits of local energy demand reduction measures, as well as introducing ongoing work under the Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) on approaches to assessing these co-benefits for Local Authorities and other actors.

 

Energy demand reduction options can make an important contribution to a Net Zero transition for climate change mitigation, and also offer multiple social, economic, and environmental ‘co-benefits’. Applying Multi Criteria Mapping and survey methods, the research investigated how citizens in two UK regions value a range of energy demand reduction options in relation to indicators of wellbeing. This analysis shows that citizens place high value on a range of co-benefits of energy demand reduction options, whilst also valuing fairness including environmental intergenerational concerns and accepting the need for some restrictions on individuals' lifestyle choices. This provides support for recent work arguing that demand-side mitigation measures are consistent with high levels of citizens' wellbeing.

 

Ongoing work on how to assess these co-benefits for policy making is assessing both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and examining how these could be framed within the context of wider approaches to a wider ‘wellbeing economy’.

  

is Professor of Sustainability Transitions at SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit), ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ«. His research explores co-evolution of technologies and institutions for a sustainable net zero transition, and relations between energy use and economic growth. He is co-Investigator in the of the Energy Demand Research Centre. He was previously a co-Investigator for the Digital Society theme and Local Green New Deals project of the UK Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (, 2018-23).