CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION POTENTIAL FROM THE ADOPTION OF NEW HABITS IN THE CITY OF SÃO PAULO
Regarding climate change, not only government and business actions are part of its mitigation, but civil society behaviors towards low carbon lifestyles are essential to keep global warming below 2.0ºC by the end of the century. Faced with the lack of data on social participation in fighting climate change, this paper highlights the importance of adopting practices - at first glance labeled as less relevant in the face of an unprecedented global threat - in the battle against the climate crisis and aims to show the relevance of the impacts of individual consumption patterns on the carbon footprint of inhabitants of the city of São Paulo. Thus, the general objective of the research is to estimate the carbon footprint reduction potential of an inhabitant of the city of São Paulo from the adoption of behavioral changes. Through an extensive literature review and the use of life cycle inventory tools (Exiobase and Ecoinvent), data were collected on the consumption intensity of various products and services by the inhabitants of São Paulo city - in the domains of food, consumer goods, housing, leisure, mobility and services – and their respective greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This research was also combined with consultations with local communities (in-depth interviews), served as a basis for defining behavior changes with the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of individuals in the region. The first results showed that although the average individual carbon footprint of the inhabitants of São Paulo city (4.16 tCO2e per capita) is similar to the global average (4.0 tCO2e per capita), there is still a need to adopt new consumption habits that are less carbon-intensive so that consumers can positively contribute to reduce, soften or even mitigate negative impacts of climate change. It was also found that the main contributor to the GHG emissions of an inhabitant of the city of São Paulo is the mobility domain (44.6%). For now, the present paper provides São Paulo residents with a “roadmap” on how to visualize and adopt viable paths to a low-carbon future and, as a next step, the study will allow the understanding on how the adoption of such suggested behaviors actually enables the reduction of the individual carbon footprint of the inhabitants of São Paulo city and, consequently, to understand how civil society can collaborate with the fulfillment of the Paris Agreement goals.