The implications of behavioural science for effective climate policy

"The implications of behavioural science for effective climate policy" takes an aggregate view of existing behavioural science research relating to climate behaviour. It takes into account eight key areas:

• Diet change – reducing high-carbon foods in people’s diets (e.g. meat and dairy).
• Reducing end-user consumption – encouraging people to reuse and repair goods, recycle, and reduce food waste.
• Aviation demand – reducing how much people fly.
• Adaptation – adapting to a changing climate (e.g. extreme heat or flooding).
• Net Zero skills and careers – helping people develop Net Zero skills and enter Net Zero careers.
• Business leaders and the transition to sustainability – encouraging businesses to be more sustainable.
• Land use and farming – increasing tree-planting on farmland.
  Policy acceptability – increasing the public acceptability of climate policies.

The Implications of Behavioural Science for Effective Climate Policy
Output 1: Literature Review and Background Report
Output 2: Policy Recommendations

A report by the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), commissioned by the Climate Change Committee (CCC)
September 2023

Key takeaway for a fossil ad ban from the Policy Recommendations
"Consistent messaging – very important. Contradictory messages from government and industry actors that promote flying activity while also suggesting consumers should make greener choices is likely to inhibit behaviour change and undermine public confidence that the Net Zero transition is a coherent societal project. If demand reduction is the goal, government should therefore avoid its current message of “guilt free flying”, and consider restrictions on the advertising of flying along with clear communications about why reducing demand is necessary to meet climate goals. There is scope for raising the moral considerations around flying as a means of encouraging a shift in social norms, and behavioural leadership can play a role in this."

Some key takeaways from the Research Paper:

• information-based interventions tend to be less effective at changing behaviour compared to measures that make green choices and behaviours the default or shift social expectations (e.g. by the government or businesses demonstrating leadership or introducing new policies).
•  There is also a need for policies that make low-carbon behaviours easier, cheaper, and more attractive, alongside regulations and incentives to shift behaviour. Generally, interventions are more likely to be successful when introduced in ‘moments of change’, when habits are disrupted and behaviour is more malleable.
• Restrictions on advertising are seen as a viable way to reduce demand for flying: "Behaviour change can be aided through limitations on the advertising and incentivising of flying by the aviation industry, government, and celebrity culture."
  "Reducing emissions from aviation will require significant behaviour change and cannot rely on new technology or voluntary industry initiatives. According to Gössling and Lyle (2021): “transition policy mixes should consider the roles of all regime actors, as well as the mechanisms through which these influence the transition. This may be envisioned as a self-reinforcing process: consumer-citizens influence demand, through their choices and policy support, and they create society’s wider social norms regarding the desirability of air travel. This increases pressure on policymakers to introduce low-carbon legislation, which then forces the aviation sector to embrace technology change. The cost of innovation influences demand, and affects the social norms surrounding air travel.Researchers have suggested promising policies to reduce aviation demand including: introducing carbon tax with annual increase, subsidy removal to increase ticket prices, frequent flyer levy, carbon labelling on air tickets, limit airport capacity and stop expansions, mandate denser seating layouts and removing premium class, banning loyalty programs, and restricting advertising for air travel (Gössling & Dolnicar, 2023)."

These findings highlight the importance of social tipping points, as social norms are found to be strong indicators of behaviour, and play a bigger role in changing people's behaviours towards sustainability than the availability of information about negative climate impacts of behaviours.