PhD defence
How to live: Evolving lifestyles for a 1.5°C future (Revised to: Everything Must Change: 1.5°C decarbonization scenarios across industries and households)
- S. Cap
- Date
- Thursday 1 October 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden
Supervisor(s)
Summary
Considerable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed to limit global warming to the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target. These 1.5°C scenarios typically involve extensive interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and capture carbon dioxide across the energy, transportation, building, and agriculture sectors. However, lifestyle change can also play a crucial role in 1.5°C decarbonization pathways. This thesis explores the emissions reduction potential of industrial technological change without household lifestyle change, and the emissions reduction potential of household lifestyle change with and without the effects of industrial decarbonization and socioeconomic change. Through this scenario analysis, the decarbonization potential of lifestyle change can be understood in the context of other relevant changes, such as electrification combined with greater renewable electricity penetration, or higher household consumption levels.
In this thesis, scenario results indicate that industrial decarbonization alone is not sufficient to reach 1.5°C-compatible footprint levels. Household consumption changes such as transitioning away from internal combustion engine vehicles, fossil fuels for home space heating, and animal products in diets are among the highest-impact actions, maintaining or increasing in impact independent of industrial decarbonization actions. These changes also offer the greatest personal health benefits, driven by healthier dietary choices and increased physical activity. Reducing household carbon footprints to Paris Agreement-compatible levels will likely require most of the EU population to adopt a portfolio of high-impact changes by 2050, or even 2030 in some countries, even assuming industrial decarbonization is rapidly implemented. These results underscore both the urgency of EU policy initiatives aimed at achieving net-zero household heating and transportation, and the urgency and relevance of individual lifestyle change.
PhD dissertations
Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.
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