# Correspondence: “How researchers can help fight climate change in 2022 and beyond (Nature)”

Paquito Bernard, Guillaume Chevance, Laura König, Vera Araújo-Soares

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Paquito Bernard, Guillaume Chevance, Laura König, Vera Araújo-Soares. Correspondence: “How researchers can help fight climate change in 2022 and beyond (Nature)”. 2022. hal-05042112

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Correspondence: "How researchers can help fight climate change in 2022 and beyond (Nature)"

This editorial adopted a cornucopian position, i.e., human ingenuity and market modification are the solutions to cope with climate change. Authors suggested that research priorities should focus on technological innovation regarding batteries, cars, and renewable energy. However, despite major research efforts in these areas in the past 30 years, CO2eq emissions are still rising.

Major CO2eq emitter countries have to reduce their respective emission by 5% each year to achieve the Paris agreement and limit global warming to around 2°C. In concrete terms, high-income countries have to reduce their household energy use by 73%, and reduce their motor vehicle ownership by 96%¹. It is highly unlikely that technological innovation alone will solve this issue; this focus further ignores that efficiency gains are often counterbalanced by negative behavioural rebound effects². Efforts should be concentrated on promoting sustainable lifestyles in high-income countries: "a cluster of habits and patterns of behaviour embedded in a society and facilitated by institutions, norms and infrastructures"³. Focusing only on technological solutions to reduce the CO2eq emissions is ineffective. Climate change issues rest on inequalities within and between countries, but also on intergenerational inequalities. Social and psychological sciences will be key to accelerate changes in organizations, laws, social relationships and individual behaviours. This contrasts with just 0.12% of all research funding spent in social sciences for climate mitigation⁴.

Technological promises are delaying successful climate change mitigation strategies and there is little time left. Social and psychological sciences are needed to accelerate combined individual and structural sustainable changes.

Signed by Paquito Bernard¹, Guillaume Chevance², Laura König³, Vera Araújo-Soares⁴

1. Moore, J. Ecological Footprints and Lifestyle Archetypes: Exploring Dimensions of Consumption and the Transformation Needed to Achieve Urban Sustainability. *Sustainability* 7, 4747–4763 (2015).

2. Sorrell, S., Gatersleben, B. & Druckman, A. The limits of energy sufficiency: A review of the evidence for rebound effects and negative spillovers from behavioural change. *Energy Research & Social Science* 64, 101439 (2020).

3. Akenji, L., Lettenmeier, M., Koide, R., Toivio, V. & Amellina, A. *1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Targets and options for reducing lifestyle carbon footprints*. (2019).

4. Overland, I. & Sovacool, B. K. The misallocation of climate research funding. *Energy Research & Social Science* 62, 101349 (2020).
¹Department of Physical Activity Sciences, Université du Québec, Faculté des Sciences, 141 avenue Président Kennedy, H2X1Y4, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Email: [bernard.paquito@uqam.ca](mailto:bernard.paquito@uqam.ca). Telephone: +1 514 987 3000 #3606

²ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Carrer del Rosselló, 132, 08036, Barcelona, Spain. Email: [guillaume.chevance@isglobal.org](mailto:guillaume.chevance@isglobal.org), [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8926-4816](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8926-4816),

³Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, Fritz-Hornschuch-Straße 13, 95326 Kulmbach, Germany. Email: [laura.koenig@uni-bayreuth.de](mailto:laura.koenig@uni-bayreuth.de), [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3655-8842](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3655-8842).

⁴Health Technology and Services Research, University of Twente, Enschede, Technical Medical Centre (Technohal), room 3303, Hallenweg 5, 7522 NH Enschede, The Netherlands. Email: [vera.araujo-soares@utwente.nl](mailto:vera.araujo-soares@utwente.nl), [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4044-2527](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4044-2527).