With climate change, the need to reduce consumption of energy-intensive and climate-damaging goods and services has become evident. However, large-scale and rapid changes in consumption will not occur spontaneously; they require political measures. One policy instrument that has been brought up in climate policy is rationing. A form of rationing already exists through the EU Emissions Trading System, which sets a cap on emission levels and allocates a limited number of tradable emission allowances to companies. Similar systems on the consumer side are conceivable but have not yet been implemented. With rationing, behavioral changes could be achieved quickly, while still ensuring that individuals’ basic needs are met. It remains unclear, however, whether and under what circumstances rationing would be perceived as acceptable in society.
The aim of this project is to investigate public attitudes toward climate-motivated rationing. A conjoint experiment will be conducted in Sweden and the United Kingdom to examine whether attitudes toward rationing are influenced by factors such as the size of individual rations, the choice of distribution principle, the possibility to trade rations between individuals, or whether rationing is combined with subsidies. We will study the acceptance of rationing and whether different combinations of this policy instrument are perceived as fair, restrictive of personal freedom, or effective. The study will focus on rationing of air travel and meat consumption.
