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Lifestyle carbon footprints: exploration of long-term targets and case studies of carbon footprints from household consumption

The objective of this report is to establish global lifestyle carbon footprint targets and examine the average consumption and footprint patterns of case countries from lifestyle perspectives. Lifestyles of individuals consist of various elements of daily living including the consumption domains of nutrition, housing, mobility, consumer goods, leisure, and services. This study focuses on the lifestyle carbon footprints, which is defined as the GHG emissions directly emitted and indirectly induced from the final consumption of households, excluding those induced by government consumption and capital formation such as infrastructure. The study proposes globally-unified per capita targets of the carbon footprint from household consumption for the years 2030, 2040 and 2050. Current average carbon footprints of Finland, Japan, and also Brazil, India, and China are estimated focusing on the comparison of a physical level of consumption in order to be both comparable to the global targets and compatible with household-level solutions. These case countries were selected in order to gain a regional balance, to capture the different characteristics of climates and other factors, and to indicate the level of difference between developed and developing countries. The report identifies and structures such promising solutions for reducing lifestyle carbon footprints on the basis of literature. It finally suggests policy implications in terms of how to proceed towards one-planet lifestyles.