Mitigating climate change: food consumption and food waste behavioral interventions

The paper catalogues 49 articles (containing 56 studies) and 18 literature reviews to identify research clusters and gaps in demand-side climate policies. It finds a concentration of research in the Anglo-Saxon world, a focus on animal protein and its substitutes, and a surge in publications since 2016. The authors identify specific behavioral intervention clusters—such as priming, defaults, and social norms—that are ready for systematic review, while noting a relative lack of research on food waste compared to consumption.

• The systematic map identified 49 articles containing 56 separate studies and 18 literature reviews, noting a significant rise in publications starting in 2016 and a prevalence of studies conducted in canteens and restaurants.
• Research on these interventions is geographically concentrated in the Anglo-Saxon world and focuses more heavily on actual food consumption—specifically animal protein (meat, fish, dairy, and eggs) and substitutes—than on food waste behaviour.
• The authors identified six specific knowledge clusters of interventions that have sufficient existing studies to allow for a systematic review of their effectiveness: priming, disclosure, defaults, social norms, micro-environment changes, and ease of use.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2020). Mitigating climate change: food consumption and food waste behavioral interventions. https://www.sei.org/publications/mitigating-climate-change-food-consumption-food-waste-behavioral-interventions/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Mitigating climate change: food consumption and food waste behavioral interventions. 2020. https://www.sei.org/publications/mitigating-climate-change-food-consumption-food-waste-behavioral-interventions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Mitigating climate change: food consumption and food waste behavioral interventions |date=16 October 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/mitigating-climate-change-food-consumption-food-waste-behavioral-interventions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2020mitigating, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Mitigating climate change: food consumption and food waste behavioral interventions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/mitigating-climate-change-food-consumption-food-waste-behavioral-interventions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }