For the love of nature : outdoor recreation and greenhouse gas emissions in Norway

M-IES

English. The environmental impacts of leisure consumption have emerged as key factors that must be addressed in order to meet climate targets agreed upon by most nations. Outdoor recreation is a popular leisure activity which is considered to be an environmentally friendly practice that promotes care for the natural world. In Norway, outdoor life is a 26,000 million Kroner industry which accounts for 17,000 terajoules of energy use per year, more than any other leisure activity apart from holiday journeys by air. Meanwhile, the government continues to push for an increase in business development and value creation from nature. This points to a paradox between a strong valuation of pristine nature and high levels of consumption which characterize outdoor recreation in Norway. In this study we use a survey to investigate transportation use and gear purchasing habits among students pursuing a degree in outdoor recreation at select Norwegian universities and social media users who frequent groups related to Norwegian outdoor life. Using a hybrid life-cycle assessment it was estimated that the average participant releases between 3.4 (social media group) and 4.6 (student group) tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year in relation to outdoor recreation activities, with around 65% of these emissions coming from transportation and the remaining 35% coming from gear purchases in both groups. This is equal to around one fifth of the average Norwegian’s yearly greenhouse gas emissions and is, by itself, more than double the per capita boundary required to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius. In addition, regression analysis showed that personal beliefs and self-evaluated motivating factors did not play a significant role in mediating consumption behavior among the participant groups. Instead, level of disposable income was the best predictor of environmental load. This indicates that the facade of a green lifestyle based on ecological values masks the global environmental consequences of excessive consumption related to outdoor recreation activities.