Scaling behaviour change for a 1.5 degree world: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Non-technical summary. Scaling sustainable behaviour change means addressing politics, power and social justice to tackle the uneven distribution of responsibility and agency for climate action, within and between societies. This requires a holistic understanding of behaviour that bridges the 'individual' and 'systemic', and acknowledges the need for absolute emissions reductions, especially by high-consuming groups, and in key 'hotspots' of polluting activity, namely, travel, diet and housing. It counters the dominant focus on individuals and households, in favour of a differentiated, but collective approach, driven by bold climate governance and social mobilisation to reorient institutions and behaviour towards just transitions, sufficiency and wellbeing. Technical summary. Sustainable behaviour change has been rising up the climate policy agenda as it becomes increasingly clear that far-reaching changes in lifestyles will be required, alongside shifts in policy, service provision and technological innovation, if we are to avoid dangerous levels of global heating. In this paper, we review different approaches to behaviour change from economics, psychology, sociology and political economy, to explore the neglected question of scalability, and identify critical points of leverage that challenge the dominant emphasis on individual responsibility. Although politically contentious and challenging to implement, in order to achieve the ambitious target of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees, we propose urgent structural interventions are necessary at all points within an ecosystem of transformation, and highlight five key spheres for action: a 'strong' sustainability pathway; pursuing just transitions (via changes to work, income and infrastructure); rebalancing political institutions to expand spaces for citizens vis-à-vis elite incumbents; focusing on high polluting actors and activities; and supporting social mobilisation. We call for a move away from linear and 'shallow' understandings of behaviour change, dominated by traditional behavioural and mainstreaming approaches, towards a 'deep', contextualised and dynamic view of scaling as a transformative process of multiple feedbacks and learning loops between individuals and systems, engaged in a mutually reinforcing 'spiral of sustainability'. Social media summary box. Scaling behaviour change means addressing power and politics: challenging polluter elites and providing affordable and sustainable services for all.COVID-19 lockdowns have temporarily reduced emissions and pollution. But carbon dioxide levels are still at record highsand rising. […] This is a moment of truth for people and planet alike. […] Every individual must also do their part. [..] More and more people are understanding the need for their own daily choices to reduce their carbon footprint and respect planetary boundaries.

Sustainable healthy diets from the lens of behavioural science

“…To be fair, most behaviour changes initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable diets should be first directed to the wealthiest, between-and within-countries. 14,26,27 Between countries, mathematical modelling studies suggests that the general adoption of sustainable healthy diets in developed countries could be an effective strategy in reducing GHG emissions and the use of resources, while improving people´s health. 26,28 The general adoption of healthy diets in low-income countries, however, would require an increased use of natural resources due to the need to address existing combinations of often inefficient farming systems and widespread dietary insufficiency in terms of both quantity and quality.…”

“…The combination of both approaches is required to achieve scaled and long lasting change in eating behaviors. 39 Indeed, although reshaping food environments can be effective to change eating behaviours, 14,35,40 this set of approaches is likely to be more powerful if combined with individual measures aimed at educating, raising awareness and motivating individuals directly. 39 Individuals behaviour change interventions can also contribute to the acceptability of political, structural and environmental modifications and to limit potential forms of psychological reactance.…”

“…13 Fortunately, things need not be this way: rapid, effective and combined structural, technological and individual changes could achieve a more resilient, sustainable and fair food system within planetary boundaries. 14,15 This viewpoint focus on the specific role of individual behaviour changes from the lens of a multi-disciplinary collaboration between behavioural, socio-economic and climate scientists as well as nutritionists.…”

Speeding up state-of-the-art assessments on global sustainability: introducing the Cambridge Sustainability Commissions

“…The results of the first Cambridge Sustainability Commission are now being published, 7 on the extremely relevant and complex topic of what do we know about ways of scaling behavioral change in our efforts to address the climate crisis. Led by Peter Newell and 30 colleagues from different disciplines, the CSC report on scaling behavioral change (Newell et al, 2021a) and the synthesis paper in Global Sustainability (Newell et al, 2021b) are scientifically sobering assessments of what we have learnt so far on what works, and what does not work, regarding the often much inflated hope directed to individuals' behavioral change as a panacea for a sustainable zero-carbon future. For starters, and this is my interpretation of the commission results, they conclude that the often hyped practice of 'nudging'the belief that small more-or-less painless shifts in individual behavior can trigger wider knock-on effects toward broader system shiftssimply has no support (as a scalable solution on its own) from empirical evidence.…”

Scaling behaviour change for a 1.5 degree world: transformations and systems thinking

“…I highlight two contributions that are added by expanding this work to engage with the transformations and sustainability science communities: (1) perspectives on the dynamic relationship between individual change and systems change; and (2) the role of systems thinking for navigating complexity and critiquing systems framings. Newell et al (2021) offer an excellent contribution towards scaling behaviour change. Their contribution bridges understandings of individual behaviour change and the broader social and political structures that shape and explain individual behaviours.…”