Decoupling

Social Inequalities, Environmental Crises, and the the STIRPAT Model

Here, we consider how one prominent model of the anthropogenic forces driving environmental impacts, the STIRPAT model, incorporates considerations of inequalities. Our assessment includes exploring STIRPAT’s limitations and ways in which it can be improved.

Colonial contexts and the feasibility of mitigation through transition- A study of the impact of historical processes on the emissions dynamics of nation-states

Historical exposure to logics of extractive colonialism accounts for up to 11% of variation in emissions-development relationships across nations, and moderates the association that emissions per capita, emissions per dollar, and total emissions have with development.

Does racism have inertia? A study of historic redlining's impact on present-day associations between development and air pollution in US cities

Historical redlining is associated with present day pollution, and intensifies the relationship between development and pollution as well.

How colonialism's legacy makes it harder for countries to escape poverty and fossil fuels today

Can we find a way to lift nearly half of the world out of poverty and still reduce fossil fuel use? There can be no sustainable development, and likely no energy transition, if poverty is not addressed too.

Does Gender Climate Influence Climate Change? The Multidimensionality of Gender Equality and Its Countervailing Effects on the Carbon Intensity of Well-Being

Increases in the number of women in parliament and women’s education the carbon intensity of well-being drawn from women’s labor force participation. We discuss the variations in our results by reviewing relevant eco-gender literatures, and feminist economics.

Inequality, Decoupling, and Sustainable Development

What social changes yield a society that is more equitable, sustainable, resilient, and robust?

Locked into Emissions- How Mass Incarceration Contributes to Climate Change

Increases in incarceration within states are associated with increases in industrial emissions, and that increases in incarceration lead to a more tightly coupled association between gross domestic product per capita and industrial emissions.

Are the Goals of Sustainability Interconnected? A Sociological Analysis of the Three E’s of Sustainable Development Using Cross-Lagged Models with Reciprocal Effects

Over time, at the country level, increasing economic inequality reduces renewable energy consumption, with no evidence of reciprocal feedback.

Gender inequality, reproductive justice, and decoupling economic growth and emissions- a panel analysis of the moderating association of gender equality on the relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions.

In nations with more gender equality, the association between GDP per capita and CO2 emissions is much lower than in nations with higher levels of gender inequality.

Is Urbanization Good for the Climate? A Cross-County Analysis of Impervious Surface, Affluence, and the Carbon Intensity of Well-Being

We explore how the relationship between the intensity of urban development and the environmental intensity of social activity hinges upon the composition of the various dimensions of urban change (e.g., the extent and concentration of the built environment, the size and density of resident populations, and the availability of social resources).