Are Wine Drinkers​ also Tree Huggers?​ Evidence of Italy’s household carbon footprint from harmonised ISTAT expenditure data, 2014–2023​

Professor Yener Altunbas, The Albert Gubay Business School, Bangor University

This study offers a novel perspective on household consumption and associated carbon emissions by examining whether culturally specific consumption habits, such as wine drinking, are linked to broader environmental awareness and more sustainable expenditure patterns. Using a harmonised ISTAT dataset covering 212,097 Italian households between 2014 and 2023, we employ a pooled cross-sectional fixed-effects model to compare the carbon footprints of distinct consumer groups against a baseline category of households consuming only fizzy drinks. The findings reveal a striking paradox: despite wine's relatively high direct carbon intensity, households that consume only wine exhibit a lower overall carbon footprint through their broader consumption basket, with this effect being most pronounced among younger households. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that wine consumption is associated with more sustainable consumption patterns. However, given the observational nature of the data, alternative explanations cannot be ruled out. In particular, the observed relationship may reflect a broader lifestyle orientation characterised by lower reliance on highly processed and industrially produced goods rather than a direct effect of wine consumption itself.