How do we reinforce climate action?

Jiaying Zhao; Jade Radke; Frances S. Chen; Sonya Sachdeva; Samuel J. Gershman; Yu Luo

doi:10.1007/s11625-024-01486-6

journal article Open Access Apr 11, 2024

How do we reinforce climate action?

Jiaying Zhao

Jade Radke Frances S. Chen Sonya Sachdeva Samuel J. Gershman

Yu Luo

Sustainability Science Vol. 19 No. 4 pp. 1503-1517 · Springer Science and Business Media LLC

View at Publisher Save 10.1007/s11625-024-01486-6

Abstract

AbstractHumanity has a shrinking window to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, yet climate action is still lacking on both individual and policy levels. We argue that this is because behavioral interventions have largely neglected the basic principles of operant conditioning as one set of tools to promote collective climate action. In this perspective, we propose an operant conditioning framework that uses rewards and punishments to shape transportation, food, waste, housing, and civic actions. This framework highlights the value of reinforcement in encouraging the switch to low-emission behavior, while also considering the benefit of decreasing high-emission behavior to expedite the transition. This approach also helps explain positive and negative spillovers from behavioral interventions. This paper provides a recipe to design individual-level and system-level interventions to generate and sustain low-emission behavior to help achieve net zero emissions.

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Details

Published: Apr 11, 2024
Vol/Issue: 19(4)
Pages: 1503-1517
License: View

Authors

J

Jiaying Zhao

Department of General Surgery, The Fifth People’s Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

Northwestern University

1 Department of Pathophysiology, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China and 2Functional Nano & Soft Materials Laboratory, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China

Funding

Canada Research Chair Program

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Award: 435-2023-0312

Indigenous Graduate Fellowship Award: 6481

Cite This Article

Jiaying Zhao, Jade Radke, Frances S. Chen, et al. (2024). How do we reinforce climate action?. Sustainability Science, 19(4), 1503-1517. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01486-6

How do we reinforce climate action?

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