Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-4 (section)

==== 4.4.1.5 Changing Behaviour and Lifestyles ====

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Changes in behaviour and lifestyles are important to accelerated mitigation. Most global mitigation pathways that limit warming to 2°C (&gt;67%) or lower assume substantial behavioural and societal change and low-carbon lifestyles ( [[#de%20Coninck--2018|de Coninck et al. 2018]] ; [[#IPCC--2018a|IPCC 2018a]] ; [[#Luderer--2018a|Luderer et al. 2018a]] ) (see also [[IPCC:Wg3:Chapter:Chapter-3#3.3.1|Section 3.3.1]] in this report; and Table 4.9 and Figure 4.3 in IPCC SR1.5). [[IPCC:Wg3:Chapter:Chapter-5|Chapter 5]] concludes that behavioural changes within transition pathways offer Gigaton-scale CO 2 savings potential at the global level, an often overlooked strategy in traditional mitigation scenarios.

Individual motivation and capacity are impacted by different factors that go beyond traditional social, demographic and economic predictors. However, it is unclear to what extent behavioural factors (i.e., cognitive, motivational and contextual aspects) are taken into account in policy design ( [[#Dubois--2019|Dubois et al. 2019]] ; [[#Mundaca--2019|Mundaca et al. 2019]] ). In fact, while economic policies play a significant role in influencing people’s decisions and behaviour, many drivers of human behaviour and values work largely outside the market system ( [[#Winkler--2015|Winkler et al. 2015]] ; [[#Díaz--2019|Díaz et al. 2019]] ) as actors in society, particularly individuals, do not respond in an economically ‘rational’ manner based on perfect-information cost-benefit analyses ( [[#Runge--1984|Runge 1984]] ; [[#Shiller--2019|Shiller 2019]] ). Rather, compelling narratives can drive individuals to adopt new norms and policies. And norms can be more quickly and more robustly shifted by proposing and framing policies designed with awareness of how framings interact with individual cognitive tendencies ( [[#van%20der%20Linden--2015|van der Linden et al. 2015]] ). Transformative policies are thus much more likely to be successfully adopted and lead to long-term behavioural change if designed in accordance with principles of cognitive psychology ( [[#van%20der%20Linden--2015|van der Linden et al. 2015]] ), and with the deep understanding of decision-making offered by behavioural science ( [[#UNEP--2017b|UNEP 2017b]] ). Similarly, given that present bias – being motivated by costs and benefits that take effect immediately than those delivered later – significantly shapes behaviour, schemes that bring forward distant costs into the present or that upfront incentives have proved to be more effective ( [[#Zauberman--2009|Zauberman et al. 2009]] ; [[#van%20den%20Broek--2017|van den Broek et al. 2017]] ; [[#Safarzyńska--2018|Safarzyńska 2018]] ). Overall, transformational strategies that align mitigation with subjective life satisfaction, and build societal support by positive discourses about economic, social, and cultural benefits of low-carbon innovations, promises far more success than targeting mitigation alone ( [[#WBGU--2011|WBGU 2011]] ; [[#Asensio,%C2%A0O.I.--2016|Asensio and Delmas 2016]] ; [[#Geels--2017|Geels et al. 2017]] ).

Climate actions are related to knowledge but even strongly to motivational factors ( [[#Hornsey--2016|Hornsey et al. 2016]] ; [[#Bolderdijk--2013|Bolderdijk et al. 2013]] ; [[#Boomsma--2014|Boomsma and Steg 2014]] ), which explains the gap between awareness and action ( [[#Ünal--2018|Ünal et al. 2018]] ). Social influences, particularly from peers, affect people’s engagement in climate action ( [[#Schelly--2014|Schelly 2014]] ). Role models appear to have a solid basis in people’s everyday preferences ( [[#WBGU--2011|WBGU 2011]] ). Social norms can reinforce individuals’ underlying motivations and be effective in encouraging sustainable consumption patterns, as many examples offered by behavioural science illustrate. Social networks also influence and spread behaviours ( [[#Service--2014|Service et al. 2014]] ; [[#Clayton--2015|Clayton et al. 2015]] ; [[#Farrow--2017|Farrow et al. 2017]] ; [[#Shah--2019|Shah et al. 2019]] ). These social influences can be harnessed by climate policy.

Collective action by individuals as part of formal social movements or informal lifestyle movements underpins system change ( ''robust evidence'' , ''high agreement'' ) (Sections 5.4 and 5.5). Organisations are comprised of individuals, but also become actors in their own right. Recent literature has considered the role of coalitions and social movements in energy democracy and energy transitions towards sustainability ( [[#Hess--2018|Hess 2018]] ). Other scholars have examined the role of women in redistributing power, both in the sense of energy transition and in terms of gender relations (Allen et al. 2019; [[#Routledge--2018|Routledge et al. 2018]] ). Mitigation and broader sustainable development policies that facilitate active participation by stakeholders can build trust, forge new social contracts, and contribute to a positive cycle building climate governance capacity ( [[IPCC:Wg3:Chapter:Chapter-5#5.2.3|Section 5.2.3]] ).

However, behavioural change not embedded in structural change will contribute little to climate change mitigation, suggesting that behavioural change is not only a function of individual agency but also depends on other enabling factors, such as the provision of infrastructure and institutions ( [[IPCC:Wg3:Chapter:Chapter-5#5.4|Section 5.4]] ). Successful shifts towards public transport, for example, involve technologies (buses, trams), infrastructure (light rail, dedicated bus lanes), regulations (operational licenses, performance contracts), institutions (new organisations, responsibilities, oversight), and high-enough density, which in turn depends on such choices as housing or planning policies ( [[#4.4.1.9|Section 4.4.1.9]] ).

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