In high-income societies, decoupling economic progress from environmental impacts has, thus far, been achieved to a large degree by outsourcing such impacts to other countries via international trade. Richer countries have thus become greener domestically but are causing a large environmental footprint abroad, often in poorer and less democratic countries. The speaker will start by discussing recent research findings on international environmental footprint shifting and then talk about how the global environmental footprint of local consumption could be reduced, both through sustainability regulation of global supply chains and fostering sustainable consumption behaviour at the individual level.

Speaker

Thomas Bernauer is a professor of political science at ETH Zurich, and Visiting Professor at CERI, Science Po. He and his group are based at the Center for Comparative and International Studies (CIS), a joint institution of ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, and at ETH Zurich’s Institute of Science, Technology and Policy (ISTP).

Thomas Bernauer’s work focuses on political and other conditions under which societal problems that extend beyond national borders can be solved. Empirically, his research concentrates on environmental policy as well as international trade issues. He is the author/co-author of around 190 articles in scientific journals and book chapters, 12 books, and many contributions to newspapers and blogs. Thomas Bernauer has studied international governance issues for the past 30 years, starting with research on the global chemical weapons ban, nuclear and biological arms control, and international environmental institutions. Since then, most of his research has concentrated on measuring and explaining international environmental cooperation and its effectiveness, explaining differences in environmental policy and its effectiveness across countries and time, and on citizen and consumer attitudes and behaviour with respect to environmental and trade issues.