Chapter 34
Social Equity and Lifestyle Conscious
Policy Making for the Energy Transition
Andrew John Chapman and Yosuke Shigetomi
Abstract This research aims to develop a social equity conscious policy making
framework, cognizant of lifestyle, consumption, demographics, proactiveness and
the distribution of costs and benefits across society. The proposed framework is applicable in multiple jurisdictions, wherever consumption, environmental footprint intensity, and basic societal demographic data are available. For preference weighting, a
survey is undertaken to identify stakeholder preferences toward environmental issues
and proactive behavior to reduce environmental burdens. A framework is developed
and applied to the case study nation of Japan, which is undergoing shifting demographics including both an aging, shrinking population. This novel study demonstrates the nature of societal outcomes through the lens of inequity underpinned by
lifestyle related environmental burdens (objective factors) and stakeholder preferences (subjective factors). We identify that the mitigation of environmental footprints leads to improved social equity outcomes, and that stakeholder proactiveness
can positively influence both equity and consumption burden outcomes. A key finding
is that broad participation is shown to be more effective than targeted participation.
Research findings can assist policy makers through an identification of consumption, demographic and footprint trends and their impacts on social inequity and
consumption burden outcomes.
Keywords Environmental footprint · Household consumption · Social equity ·
Transition · Energy policy
A. J. Chapman (B)
International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
e-mail: chapman@i2cner.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Y. Shigetomi
Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Kishita et al. (eds.), EcoDesign and Sustainability II, Sustainable Production, Life
Cycle Engineering and Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6775-9_34
513
Social Equity and Lifestyle Conscious
Policy Making for the Energy Transition
Andrew John Chapman and Yosuke Shigetomi
Abstract This research aims to develop a social equity conscious policy making
framework, cognizant of lifestyle, consumption, demographics, proactiveness and
the distribution of costs and benefits across society. The proposed framework is applicable in multiple jurisdictions, wherever consumption, environmental footprint intensity, and basic societal demographic data are available. For preference weighting, a
survey is undertaken to identify stakeholder preferences toward environmental issues
and proactive behavior to reduce environmental burdens. A framework is developed
and applied to the case study nation of Japan, which is undergoing shifting demographics including both an aging, shrinking population. This novel study demonstrates the nature of societal outcomes through the lens of inequity underpinned by
lifestyle related environmental burdens (objective factors) and stakeholder preferences (subjective factors). We identify that the mitigation of environmental footprints leads to improved social equity outcomes, and that stakeholder proactiveness
can positively influence both equity and consumption burden outcomes. A key finding
is that broad participation is shown to be more effective than targeted participation.
Research findings can assist policy makers through an identification of consumption, demographic and footprint trends and their impacts on social inequity and
consumption burden outcomes.
Keywords Environmental footprint · Household consumption · Social equity ·
Transition · Energy policy
A. J. Chapman (B)
International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
e-mail: chapman@i2cner.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Y. Shigetomi
Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Kishita et al. (eds.), EcoDesign and Sustainability II, Sustainable Production, Life
Cycle Engineering and Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6775-9_34
513