Beyond the environment: Sustainable consumption amid poverty and inequality. Insight from a developing economy

Shifting consumption toward sustainability is essential for balancing economic development and environmental goals. In many emerging economies, rapid growth, rising inequality, and structural constraints complicate this transition, while the broader impacts of “green” consumer actions remain insufficiently understood. This study develops an integrated framework to assess household-level sustainability interventions across three dimensions—carbon emissions, poverty, and income inequality—while explicitly incorporating rebound effects. Applying this framework to Vietnam reveals substantial trade-offs. Many interventions that appear effective in reducing emissions lose much of their mitigation potential once re-spending behavior is considered, though their social benefits often remain intact. Transport interventions stand out as structurally robust, delivering consistent emission reductions and stable distributional outcomes with low sensitivity to rebound effects. Food and appliance interventions exhibit high mitigation potential but also large rebound-driven uncertainties, underscoring the need for complementary policies that steer savings toward low-carbon options.