The vast majority of global consumers, 94% according to a recent study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman, are willing to change their consumption habits to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve a more sustainable lifestyle. Among Spaniards, this proportion rises to 95% of consumers, who declare that they have changed at least one habit for a more sustainable one during this year.
As the consultant points out, it is necessary to halve the individual carbon footprint by 2050 to meet the Paris Goals, going from the current four tons of CO2 to an annual average of two tons by mid-century. This reality is penetrating consumers around the world, who have already introduced, among others, recycling, the use of public transport or the purchase of sustainable products as essential habits in their daily lives.
Spain, at the forefront in the consumption of local products
Thus, Spain is at the forefront of the world in the consumption of local products, with 14% of consumers concerned about the origin of the products and also highlighting the pre-eminence of habits such as recycling (17% of consumers), reduction in the use of individual vehicles (14% state that they drive less) or the reduction in meat consumption (6% of Spanish citizens have limited their consumption).
According to the experts at OliverWyman, we are in a crucial decade in which governments and businesses will need to take the lead on climate action, but individual consumers nonetheless hold great power and responsibility to make facing the climate challenge. Therefore, although institutions must encourage sustainability and companies must be held accountable for their emissions, consumers will make a difference if they adopt increasingly sustainable lifestyles.
Oh the contempt of the Yale law professors for the petty, bourgeois concern for having a “successful law practice.”… https://t.co/aq9HaNWWhS
— Zach Wolfe Wed Jun 30 02:21:44 +0000 2021
Companies under scrutiny
Four out of five global consumers consider it 'important' or 'very important' that companies commit to reduce their emissions and develop plans to achieve carbon neutrality, this being a key factor in determining their purchasing decisions.
In Spain, 85% of consumers give importance to companies' commitment to sustainability, ranking behind Italy (94%) and China (89%) and ahead of countries such as Germany (81%), the United Kingdom (81 %) or the United States (74%).
Thus, the Oliver Wyman survey also reveals different views of the importance of business commitment to sustainability depending on the age of consumers, with the younger generations generally being the most willing to direct their purchases towards the most sustainable companies and brands. . Along these lines, although 76% of young Spaniards between the ages of 18 and 25 admit that the commitment of companies influences their purchase decisions, the awareness of those over 75 years of age stands out, of whom 84% says direct their consumption towards brands and companies committed to sustainability.
In a key decade to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5ºC and a few weeks before the celebration of Black Friday and Christmas, dates with a marked increase in consumption, Oliver Wyman's Climate Action Navigator tool identifies a gap of 125 million tons of CO2 between the current emissions of Retail and those that the sector has to reduce by the end of the decade to comply with the Paris Agreements.
Given this scenario, climate action can represent both a risk and an opportunity for companies, with an increasing proportion of consumers willing to buy their products if they prove to be sustainable and facing the possibility of losing significant market shares if they do not mobilize in time in the face of the climate crisis. In this way, companies are rushing to account for their emissions and to adopt commitments and plans that bring them closer to climate neutrality in order to align themselves with a global consumer who is increasingly informed, demanding and willing to adapt their habits to maintain a lifestyle sustainable and reduce its carbon footprint.
