The gender gap in carbon footprints: determinants and implications

Climate change mitigation requires understanding differences in individual carbon footprints. We document that women emit 26 percent less than men from food and transport, using detailed consumption data from France. After accounting for socioeconomic characteristics and differences in the scale of consumption, an 8 percent gap remains. Red meat and car use—high-emission goods associated with masculine identity—drive most of the residual gap, suggesting that gender differences in carbon footprints are partly driven by gender stereotypes. As a result, climate policies may affect men and women differently, and their political acceptability could become polarized across gender lines.