Institution that balance trade-offs
In this section
Markets may help, all other things equal
Figure B.8 presents repeated analysis for CO2 emissions intensity and environment with the added institutional parameters. The results, after accounting for the negative impact of market liberalization associated with the energy intensity of providing living conditions, is that the uncorrelated operation of markets has a positive mitigation effect on reducing energy intensity. This trade-off with living conditions suggests that the challenge of emissions intensity may be structural in nature more closely related to the design of the built environment, mix of energy sources and transportation systems and less related to institutions and policy considerations.
Competing dynamics of skills and affluence
Another observation is the inverse relationship with education, whereas it is positively related for other environment measures. This could be due to the fact that while higher education may improve support for stronger environmental protections, it is also associated with higher income and the means to affluence and a more carbon intensive lifestyle.
Unexpected relationships
The negative relationship with governance is unexpected and the role of personal freedoms motivates further follow-up analysis. Personal freedom produced a consistent negative relationship with living conditions, but shows a positive relationship with improvements in both CO2 emissions and other environmental measures. This may suggest that individuals behave differently when they use their civil voice than their behavior as consumers, and possibly that the decentralized processes of civil participation and market dynamics are complimentary mitigation dynamics that oppose the inertia of the status quo structural design of built environment and energy systems.
Climate change is a test of collective action abilities
While many society-wide goals are complimentary, climate change is an unusual challenge possibly because it is negatively associated with energy consumption and its consequences are diffuse in time and space. This main development feature is positively associated with how living conditions are provided with a trade-off for CO2 emissions that does not appear to be explained by institutional factors of the strength of operation of either the markets or the public institutions, but is mitigated through greater personal civil liberties, means of creating systemic change through civic engagement.
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