Happiness and footprints: assessing the relationship between individual well-being and carbon footprints

This study investigates the nature of the empirical link between an individual’s well-being and their carbon footprint. It employs a novel approach matching data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, to household expenditure and greenhouse gas-based carbon footprints. The carbon footprints are calculated using environmental factor multipliers from the detailed and globally integrated multi-regional input–output (MRIO) tables provided by the Eora MRIO database. The results indicate that higher carbon footprints are associated with marginally lower levels of well-being. This relationship appears to be linear. Furthermore, this relationship does not differ greatly for individuals across the well-being distribution. The findings of this study both: (1) add to the body of knowledge on the link between carbon footprints and well-being; and (2) provide policy makers with evidence and strategic guidance on the well-being implications of mitigating carbon footprints.