Negligible impacts of early COVID-19 confinement on household carbon footprints in Japan.

ABSTRACT: The rapid and extensive changes in household consumption patterns during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can serve as a natural experiment for exploring the environmental outcomes of changing human behavior. Here, we assess the carbon footprint of household consumption in Japan during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (January-May 2020), which were characterized by moderate confinement measures. The associated lifestyle changes did not have a significant effect on the overall household carbon footprint compared with 2015-2019 levels. However, there were significant trade-offs between individual consumption categories such that the carbon footprint increased for some categories (e.g., eating at home) or declined (e.g., eating out, transportation, clothing, and enter

SUBMITTER: Long Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9033312 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature