Our thinking

A greener nudge

18 June, 2021

Over 60% of the UK’s carbon reduction that we need to deliver will require some kind of behaviour change from all of us to achieve it. Lowering our national carbon impact is not just about straight-forward decisions about infrastructure and the National Grid; it is about more complex lifestyle changes and choices that we will have to make on a day-to-day basis. 

Behavioural nudges play an important role in making these kinds of changes easy and natural. Informing people about their carbon footprint is one thing, telling them what they can do is another, but really making people change their behaviour, and making sure those changes persist, is what nudges are all about. In this area, our friends at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) are the experts. 

Ahead of a major behaviour change conference in the lead-up to COP26 – Behavioural LENZ – BIT is looking for top class examples of initiatives that have been nudging people to reduce their carbon impact and demonstrating behavioural science in action. You don’t have to be a sustainability professional to share your story – all of us, as employees, business-owners and citizens can and have been agents of positive behaviour change. 

From our own experience, it makes us think of the work we are doing with Net Zero Now to help SMEs go net zero. In building the programme we didn’t only have to think about the service offered, but also how we could design a journey to move business owners and managers from a state of consideration of net zero as an option to the point where they could really take action. We thought about reducing friction, presenting easy choices for decision-making, and providing the right support at the right time to help people make the change. 

The best examples submitted to BIT will be showcased at Behavioural LENZ. Submit your entry here. 

By Ben Wood