Environmental leapfrogging and everyday climate cultures: sustainable water consumption in the Global South

The pursuit of ‘everyday climate cultures’ can mean many things, including reductions in the resource intensity of everyday life. This paper considers efforts to influence current and future patterns of water use in the Global South. This is a significant challenge for environmental policy and for c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climatic change 2020-11, Vol.163 (1), p.83-97
Main Authors: Evans, David M., Browne, Alison L., Gortemaker, Ilse A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adoption of innovations
Appropriation
Atmospheric Sciences
Behavior
Case studies
Climate
Climate change
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Climatic analysis
Collaboration
Consumers
Consumption
Cultures
Developing countries
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Efficiency
Environmental impact
Environmental policy
Everyday life
LDCs
New technology
Social structure
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Water
Water consumption
Water shortages
Water use
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Summary:The pursuit of ‘everyday climate cultures’ can mean many things, including reductions in the resource intensity of everyday life. This paper considers efforts to influence current and future patterns of water use in the Global South. This is a significant challenge for environmental policy and for companies that seek to reduce environmental impacts during the use phase of their products. Challenges such as these often give way to debates about the potential for developing countries to bypass resource intensive phases of development and ‘leapfrog’ directly to more sustainable pathways. This article contributes to the literature on environmental leapfrogging by applying social practice theory to better understand the significance of users and ‘lifestyles’. Drawing on a research collaboration with Unilever—involving a rapid review of relevant evidence—the analysis considers mobile (cell) phones as an exemplar of ‘user-led leapfrogging’. A number of lessons are drawn out of this case study that inform thinking about the task of leapfrogging to more sustainable patterns of water use in the Global South. Attention is paid to the adoption and appropriation of products, the broader societal impacts of new technologies, and alternatives to the logic of efficiency. Crucially, it is argued that technologies are limited in their ability to steer processes of positive change and that attention must be paid to existing cultural patterns, ways of doing things, and social structures. The conclusion reflects critically on the concept of environmental leapfrogging, the merits and limitations of social practice theory, and the broader implications of the analysis for understanding everyday climate cultures.
ISSN:0165-0009
1573-1480
DOI:10.1007/s10584-018-2331-y