Realizing the full potential of behavioural science for climate change mitigation

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Kristian S. Nielsen
  • Viktoria Cologna
  • Jan M. Bauer
  • Sebastian Berger
  • Cameron Brick
  • Thomas Dietz
  • Ulf J.J. Hahnel
  • Laura Henn
  • Florian Lange
  • Paul C. Stern
  • Kimberly S. Wolske

Behavioural science has yielded insights about the actions of individuals, particularly as consumers, that affect climate change. Behaviours in other spheres of life remain understudied. In this Perspective, we propose a collaborative research agenda that integrates behavioural science insights across multiple disciplines. To this end, we offer six recommendations for optimizing the quality and impact of research on individual climate behaviour. The recommendations are united by a shift towards more solutions-focused research that is directly useful to citizens, policymakers and other change agents. Achieving this vision will require overcoming challenges such as the limited funding for behavioural and social sciences and structural barriers within and beyond the academic system that impede collaborations across disciplines.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Climate Change
Volume14
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)322-330
Number of pages9
ISSN1758-678X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 04.2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Nature Limited 2024.

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