Men, who love barbecues and SUVs, pollute more than women. A stereotype? Not entirely, according to a French study published on Wednesday, May 14, by the London School of Economics (LSE), which quantifies the gender gap in greenhouse gas emissions. It reveals that men emit 26% more CO₂ than women in transport and food, two sectors which account for 50% of France's national household carbon footprint. Men account for an average of 5.3 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) per year for those two sectors, compared to 3.9 tCO₂e for women.

"These differences are very significant, comparable to the carbon footprint disparity between the richest 50% of French and the poorest 50%," said Marion Leroutier, a co-author of the study and an environmental economics researcher at the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST).

Part of the gender gap was explained by socio-economic factors: types of employment status (part-time or full-time, for example), place of residence and socio-professional categories. Men tend to travel longer distances, especially when commuting to work, and consume more calories – health authorities consider their nutritional needs to be 24% higher than women's. However, once these parameters are taken into account, a portion of the carbon footprint gap (38% in transport and 25% in food) remains unexplained.

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