I attended a fascinating event recently hosted by the Chief Executive’s Forum in conjunction with the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) where we talked a lot about ‘Nudge’ and ‘Sludge’ tactics.
It wasn’t farming or wastewater related, but the topic was instead ‘Behavioural Insights for NetZero’. An impressive team of behavioural scientists and government policy makers discussed the challenge of climate change and the important role that behavioural science can play in helping Northern Ireland achieve its net zero targets. It focused on the policy interventions that government can make to build momentum.
How we tackle the climate change emergency demands a sea-change in our way of life. It will radically alter how we power and heat our homes and businesses, how we travel, what we eat and what we buy.
The scale of the challenge demands much more than a scientific or technological solution. It goes to the heart of all human and social systems and therefore communicating climate change is also critical if we are to encourage the behavioural change, collaboration and policy environment needed to address the issue.
Tackling climate change requires multi-layered and interconnected change communications and in a very short time frame. It requires innovation, education and information sharing. Our experience shows that it can be best advanced through combining the science of behavioural change and the art of communication and this is a space where we have been spending more of our time
Backed by evidence and insights, it remains an exercise in storytelling if we are to shift the long-engrained behaviours around car usage, energy consumption, diet, air travel even. Green nudges use insights to change people’s behaviour in more environmentally friendly directions.
Done right, this can move them towards making better choices that are in their best interests or align with desired outcomes.
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The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Little Book of Green Nudges encourages us to look EAST when considering potential incentives and motivations;
- Easy: Humans tend to opt for easy options, meaning that, to encourage desired behaviours, any barriers or hassles have to be removed. Alternatively, policymakers can simply set a default option to achieve the outcome.
- Attractive: People are more likely to become magnetised by visually attractive cues and imagery. Incentives should also be attractive.
- Social: People are greatly influenced by their peers and their leaders. A way to encourage them to practise environmentally friendly behaviours is by promoting the fact that other people have adopted green lifestyles and benefit from it.
- Timely: On a daily basis, humans make 90% of decisions automatically. Due to present bias, we know that people value the present more than what lies ahead, so incorporating positive messages in a timely way can influence decisions. Equally policies should be rolled out when individuals are most receptive to them, which typically occurs alongside key life events.
Another lesson for our policy makers was to ‘desludge’ the processes that may surround future incentive schemes or initiatives designed to drive climate change actions, This means removing friction and making them as simple and accessible as possible.
Findings shared from the ACCESS Citizens Panel Survey 2024 showed that 56% of NI respondents supported the Net Zero policy target, compared to 51% for the UK as a whole. Meanwhile 33% of NI respondents think the target can be achieved, compared to the UK average of 27% which suggests at least we are more confident than other parts of the UK.
Sadly, however I informed the researchers that a recent LucidTalk NI poll suggests that here in Northern Ireland even the environment may divide along green and orange lines.
Apparently, while a majority of people here believe extreme weather events like the recent Storm Éowyn are at least partly caused by climate change, there was a significant difference when it comes to nationalist and unionist voters. Just 29% of unionist voters believe this to be the case, while 81% of nationalist/republican voters agreed.
It would seem we may have extra messaging considerations to consider as we ramp up our behavioural change communications. We may have to look at the influence of political leadership as we seek to nudge more people towards better choices and away from the sludge.
- Kieran Donnelly is managing director at Morrow Communications, a creative consultancy based in Holywood.
