Climate

Behavioral economics plays a key role in explaining the lack of current climate action and in facilitating effective future interventions. For instance, it can help us evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of policy instruments and institutions, understand the effectiveness of “hard” and “soft” interventions, and estimate pro-environmental preferences. In this editorial, we provide examples for some of the contributions of behavioral economics to the study of climate action and review the eight studies published in this collection.

Ending reliance on oil, coal, and gas, and embracing technologies that will only improve and become cheaper over time, is not just smart climate policy. It is the best way to improve economic competitiveness and human prosperity for decades to come.

The use of reflective aerosols in the upper atmosphere (stratospheric aerosol injections, SAI) to limit incoming sunlight has been proposed as a potential means of countering anthropogenic climate change. Such a strategy ideates from observed cooling effects due to sulfate aerosol formation following volcanic eruptions. Solid mineral candidates have been proposed as a sulfate alternative, potentially lowering environmental risks like ozone depletion and absorption of radiation.

Coalbed methane is an underappreciated problem of global steel production. While cutting methane emissions in the steel supply chain will not produce green steel overnight, it could reduce the sector’s emissions by the equivalent of a billion tons of carbon annually, and at little cost.

A major proposal to transition the global economy away from fossil fuels is to “electrify everything” allowing for low-carbon power production to replace fossil fuel oxidation. Here we conduct a techno-economic analysis of a diverse set of electrification technologies to determine the technical feasibility and economic cost of full-scale electrification. We find that battery-electric vehicles can allow for cost-neutral electrification of transportation; however, neither hydrogen nor CO2-based e-fuels are economically sustainable.

The relationship between social status and green consumption is pivotal in addressing the climate crisis, yet previous research reveals conflicting perspectives. We analyze a nationally representative panel survey of more than 63,000 British respondents, tracking their green consumption, attitudes, and behaviors across multiple years. The findings reveal a previously unidentified S-shaped relationship between social status and green consumption, challenging existing models that propose inverted U-shaped, negative linear, or positive linear associations.

If political conditions in the United States and elsewhere require a rebranding of technologies formerly known as “climate tech,” so be it. The larger economic, technological, and geopolitical forces propelling everyone toward cleaner energy remain as strong as ever.

Danone’s story of looking for a larger purpose beyond short-term profits seemed to come to an ignominious end in 2021. The then-chief executive Emmanuel Faber was removed by the board of directors following pressure from activist investors who claimed that prioritising environmental, social and governance issues hurt the company’s financial returns.