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The saltmarsh carbon storage potential is a key topic in blue carbon research and climate policy. Ecosystem service valuations provide valuable information to policymakers for habitat management and climate change mitigation policies. Yet, only few saltmarsh valuation studies have included the carbon storage service in the UK context. This paper investigates how the public values saltmarsh ecosystem services, focussing on the carbon storage service. We used a choice experiment to elicit the willingness to pay (WTP) of a representative sample of the Scottish public to support interventions that would maintain or improve the provision of these services. Furthermore, we tested the effect of information on individuals' preferences and WTP with a split sample approach where one group received a treatment in the form of additional information. We found that (i) all attributes had a significant influence on individuals' choices; (ii) both groups had, on average, a positive marginal WTP for all presented ecosystem services; (iii) the treated sample had, on average, no significantly different marginal WTP for carbon storage than the control group. This paper adds to the limited literature on the saltmarsh carbon storage ecosystem service and demonstrates a developed nation's public's openness to nature-based climate change mitigation solutions. [Display omitted] • The Scottish public on average prefers saltmarsh management over the status quo. • Providing additional information reduced heterogeneity in WTP for carbon storage. • Most respondents preferred an improvement of all saltmarsh ecosystem services. • Therefore management should focus on both climate change mitigation and adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable consumption is a growing niche with an increasing number of initiatives aimed at lowering domestic environmental consumption footprints. Third-party assured product eco-labelling has emerged as a key governance mechanism to promote sustainable consumption. However, does the purchasing of eco-labelled products really support a transition towards more sustainable consumption? In this paper, we explore eco-labelling through the lens of the rebound literature. While theorizing of the rebound effect originated in energy economics and has long been centred on eco-efficiency, we extend its rationale to products that are associated with a price premium in return for added environmental quality attributes. Reporting on two inter-related studies into the link between purchasing of environmentally friendly products and different types of environmental resource consumption, we find that eco-labelled products flourish in more affluent economies that are characterized by higher levels of overall resource consumption; and that willingness to consume environmentally friendly products is positively related to higher individual carbon, water and material footprints. Hence, we argue that eco-labelling in its current form is inextricably linked to higher – rather than lower – levels of resource consumption. Consequently, the governance mechanism that underpins eco-labelling is associated with an indirect behavioural consumer rebound effect. • We report on two studies into environmentally friendly product purchasing • Eco-labels thrive in more affluent EU-27 markets • In the UK, willingness to pay for eco-labels is linked to higher resource use • This pattern is particularly pronounced for carbon footprints • Eco-labelling reflects an indirect behavioural rebound effect [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]