Towards the prevention of rebound effects in EU policy-making

While ambitious sustainability policy is being deployed in Europe (EU), environmental impacts of EU consumption patterns are still increasing and transgressing many planetary boundaries.

The gap between policy action and environmental impacts can be partially explained by rebound effects (RE), which offset ca. 47% of potential environmental gains of sustainability interventions.

In a recent policy brief written in collaboration between DTU and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a set of best practices are provided for identifying, preventing, and mitigating rebound effects:

- Identify the plurality of rebound mechanisms at play (considering economic, psychological, and sociocultural factors), especially those with reinforcing behaviour.
- Make the decision-making structures within production and consumption systems explicit to not only minimize RE, but also nurture secondary benefits.
- Furthermore, key recommendations for the integration of RE into the whole policy cycle are provided:
- Agenda setting: ensure methodological harmonization for the prospective and retrospective identification of RE, provide empirical recommendations for mitigating/preventing RE, plus education for decision-makers.
- Policy design: strengthen protocols for considering RE, coupling environmental assessment with behavioural studies that identify consumption choices and patterns.
- Policy evaluation: integrate RE indicators into policy monitoring and evaluation frameworks to enable adaptive mitigation and continuous learning.

An illustrative example of the recommendations will be presented, with a focus on the life cycle of textile products and associated EU policies, such as the Circular Economy Action Plan – which includes the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.

The policy brief has already influenced upcoming legislation in the EU, and provides the foundation of REBOUNDLESS POLICIES, a project funded by the European Research Council.