Internationalising Lifestyle for the Environment

Lifestyle for the Environment’ (LiFE), introduced by India’s Prime Minister at COP26, emphasises behavioural shifts for sustainable consumption. This chapter explores the integration of LiFE into multilateral processes to strengthen global sustainability efforts. It analyses opportunities within the G20, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to embed lifestyle-centric approaches into global governance. 

Positioning LiFE as a normative contribution from the Global South, the chapter identifies four enabling instruments—norm development, policy design, market mechanisms, and social tools—to institutionalise lifestyle approaches. It outlines how global frameworks can incorporate LiFE by using G20 leadership, refining SDG indicators through the IAEG-SDG, incorporating lifestyle dimensions into IPCC and SBSTA processes, and pursuing a UNGA resolution. In doing so, the chapter contributes to understanding how behaviour-based interventions can be embedded within multilateral systems to support climate and development goals.