How Countries Can Use Behavior Change to Further Reduce Emissions

A review of 20 national climate commitments reveals that while some high-emitting countries are integrating behavior change policies, there are significant gaps in the adoption of high-impact practices and the variety of behavioral tools used.

• Most of the nine high-impact 'Priority Practices' identified by Project Drawdown are absent from the NDCs of the 19 highest-emitting countries and the EU. The most frequently mentioned behaviors are the promotion of electric or hybrid vehicles (80% of countries), public transport use (75%), and reducing household energy consumption via insulation or efficient appliances (60%). China, the United Kingdom, and Japan are noted as leaders in these areas, while Russia and Iran do not mention any of these shifts.
• There is a mismatch between the emissions reduction potential of certain behaviors and their inclusion in national plans. Food-related behaviors and the reduction of air travel are largely overlooked despite their impact; only the UK explicitly mentions promoting sustainable diets, and no analyzed NDCs include policies to reduce air travel, despite aviation accounting for approximately 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
• Countries tend to rely on a single behavioral tool per sector rather than a combination of the three identified tools: enhanced information, incentives and disincentives, and improving the decision-making context. For example, transport NDCs primarily focus on improving the decision-making context (e.g., EV charging infrastructure), while energy sector NDCs lean heavily on enhanced information (e.g., personalized feedback on energy use).

APA

World Resources Institute (2024). How Countries Can Use Behavior Change to Further Reduce Emissions. https://www.wri.org/insights/behavior-change-reduce-emissions-climate-plans

Chicago

World Resources Institute. How Countries Can Use Behavior Change to Further Reduce Emissions. 2024. https://www.wri.org/insights/behavior-change-reduce-emissions-climate-plans.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=How Countries Can Use Behavior Change to Further Reduce Emissions |date=2 October 2024 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/behavior-change-reduce-emissions-climate-plans |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2024how, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{How Countries Can Use Behavior Change to Further Reduce Emissions}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/behavior-change-reduce-emissions-climate-plans}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }