The cultures and habits of millions of people -- essentially, whether they waste energy or use it efficiently -- have a major impact on climate change. So do government policies and regulations.

The role of culture and habit.

People don't necessarily make decisions based on efficiency or the health of the environment. They are apt to do what they've done in the past, what is expected, what their friends and neighbors do, what is fashionable. Driving a car with a large engine when a small engine which burns less fuel will do the job is a matter of choice. In choosing cars and electrical appliances and methods for heating and cooling their homes, human beings don't necessarily think about climate change. And when thousands and even millions of people make choices that add unnecessarily to the global warming problem, the effects can be considerable.

Lifestyles featuring heavy automobile use contribute significantly to global warming

Traditions and habits also may limit the lifestyle choices that are available. Businesses and governments tend not to supply products, services, and policies people don't want. Mass transit is much less wasteful of fossil fuels than automobile use, but if the public hasn't demanded mass transit and the necessary train lines and subway systems and bus routes haven't been built, then they aren't quickly available when and if people change their minds. Momentum has to be built up for such changes and yet, paradoxically, if the options aren't available, it's hard to establish momentum for them. "Hybrid" cars use roughly half the gasoline of standard automobiles, but because few customers have asked for such vehicles, the price per car is high and few auto makers produce them.

Lack of demand also slows innovation and technological progress, while heightened interest accelerates it. The key here is "interest." If customers and citizens, especially in industrialized countries, become strongly interested in combating global warming and are willing to buy products that cut emissions, new processes and technologies could well be invented that would greatly reduce or even solve the problem. Enormous technological breakthroughs in the past have occurred because of such pressures.

Governments as prods and guides.

Laws and regulations can have a major impact on greenhouse-gas emissions because they affect business behavior and public habits. Some governments encourage the use of mass transit; some -- through tax arrangements, road-building programmes, and even subsidies -- encourage the burning of fossil fuels. One way (admittedly not always popular) of changing behavior is to make it illegal. Another is to make it more expensive through taxes or penalties.

Some governments, spurred by membership in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, have already attempted to cut greenhouse gas emissions with a mixture of carrots and sticks -- with inducements, subsidies, voluntary programmes, regulations, and fines. Several have attacked the problem directly by imposing "taxes" on carbon use. Others have established "carbon markets" where units of energy use may be bought and sold. These arrangements anticipate provisions that will apply to governments that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, once the Protocol enters into force.

Minimum standards for energy efficiency in new buildings were updated recently in a series of countries, including Austria, France, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Such measures can include requirements for walls and roofs that limit heat loss. And they can require a minimum level of thermal efficiency for furnaces and water heaters.

Standards for energy efficiency in electrical appliances have been established by some governments. A programme begun by Japan in 1998 is expected to cut the energy requirements of home video recorders by 59 per cent, refrigerators by 30 per cent, and computers by 83 per cent. The sting of more stringent regulations can be softened by inducements, as in the Netherlands, where tougher European Community appliance standards are now in effect. In the Netherlands, householders are entitled to a partial rebate on the purchase prices of the most efficient appliances.

Economic and fiscal instruments have been used to spur shifts in freight transport from roads to rail systems and ships, which use less fuel per ton of goods transported. Examples are the introduction of road tolls in Austria and mileage-based tolls for lorries in Austria, Germany, and Slovenia; increased investments in rail systems in Austria and Belgium; and promotion of ship and rail use for freight in Belgium, Switzerland, and Japan.

Among voluntary arrangements is an agreement reached between the European Union and European and Asian automobile manufacturer organizations setting reduced targets for carbon-dioxide emissions from passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

"Green tariffs" have been used by Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland to spur the use of renewable energy. The "tariffs" guarantee electrical-generating companies a higher price for a unit of renewable energy than the prevailing market price.

Steps have been taken by a number of governments to require waste firms and landfills to prevent the escape of greenhouse gases such as methane. Landfill taxes per ton of waste in Switzerland and Norway are higher for facilties that are not sealed. In Austria, taxes are higher for landfills that do not recover the methane emitted.

Source: http://unfccc.int/essential_background/feeling_the_heat/items/2910.php