Sustainable Behavior in Climate Pledges: An Analysis of Top Emitters’ Strategies

This working paper provides the first analysis exploring how countries are considering behavior change within their NDCs. We first outline nine of the most impactful behavior changes, or “Priority Practices,” based on the research literature. These are behavior changes with the greatest potential to decrease GHG emissions within the food, mobility, and energy sectors. Next, we evaluate how countries’ NDCs outline concrete actions to shift these behaviors.

We categorize existing actions into three broad groups according to the type of behavior change tool used: enhanced and personalized information; incentives (e.g., monetary or nonmonetary rewards); and improving the decision-making context (e.g., changing how choices are presented, removing barriers to desired behaviors, or altering the physical or built environment that surrounds an individual).

This paper is relevant to national governments, policymakers, academics, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are working to increase the ambition of NDCs, as well as those working to promote effective behavioral climate policies.