Climate change means we can’t continue with our consumerist culture - Aimee Ambrose

Purchase and use of goods and services makes up 25 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions – our single biggest source of emissions. Evidence shows the richest 10 per cent of households globally are responsible for around 49 per cent of total carbon emissions.

While most people in Yorkshire don’t fall into that category, many of us can admit to consuming more than we need from time to time. We also know our county has some of the most deprived communities in the country, so it is vital to curb excess consumption and distribute resources more equally.

What does too much look like? Powering large homes filled with devices, owning multiple vehicles driven often, flying frequently, eating meat rich diets, owning a wide range of consumer goods, and acquiring new ones regularly. Doesn’t sound that unusual? Therein lies the problem. This way of life has become an accepted norm in societies across the developed world and which other countries are seeking to emulate as a perceived route to prosperity. We have reached the point where the majority of global society is on course to become an excess consumer, with five billion people forecast to fall within the ‘consumer class’ - those who spend to meet wants as well as needs - by 2031.

But, even if we understand and accept that we need to cut back on our consumption levels, this can feel incredibly difficult. Why is it so hard to simply consume less?

At Sheffield Hallam University, we are currently researching that exact issue. What are the reasons for high consumption lifestyles and how can we enable sustainable reductions in consumption by the wealthiest households?

Part of the challenge lies in our pursuit of social status and happiness through material possessions and experiences, seeking material ‘satisfiers’ of our needs and wants over social ones. Consuming more - owning bigger homes, newer and multiple cars, the latest gadgets etc - has become culturally ingrained as a way to communicate our success. We use consumption as a very visible scorecard, benchmarking ourselves against our peers. Cutting back isn't just about using less stuff, it's about resisting powerful cultural norms. The highest consumers amongst us also act as trend setters in wider society and encourage others to follow suit.

Beyond status, consumption itself has become habitually tied to our sense of fulfilment and identity. We've been taught that acquiring more goods and services is the path to happiness, even though key research shows that there is a tipping point after which consumption goes too far and undermines well being. High consumers can feel all sorts of pressures – a fear of losing their wealth, falling behind peers, being rejected from elite social networks, overworking, and missing out on family time etc. But, despite these pitfalls, they’re unlikely to part with their lifestyle, because that ingrained mindset, regardless of our environmental concerns, requires overcoming deeply rooted social and cultural forces.

Then there's the structural reality that overconsumption is systematically reinforced by our economic and political systems. Businesses fuel and profit from our insatiable demand for more, better, bigger – production must constantly be scaled up and never reduced, so we must be encouraged to keep buying. Policy paradigms prioritise endless economic growth over sustainability and sufficiency.

Consumption patterns also tend to be self-reinforcing and shaped by emotion as much as rationality. Once we've invested so much into crafting our high-consumption lifestyles and identities, letting go of that can feel like an unacceptably painful sacrifice, regardless of the wider impacts.

But the environmental crisis demands that we overcome these barriers to reigning in our consumption, especially for those of us who over consume the most. Research points decisively to the individual and collective benefits for happiness and wellbeing that flow from consuming at a level where we can meet all of our needs and some of our wants –currently the wealthy consume resources far, far beyond their fair share and the evidence suggests that it’s not making them happy. But following this path requires questioning some of our core assumptions about what makes for a successful, fulfilled life and requires economies and corporations to value wellbeing and quality of life more than profit and GDP.

Aimee Ambrose is Professor of energy policy at Sheffield Hallam University.