Nudging Climate Action & Happiness

Jiaying Zhao
University of British Columbia

Humanity has six years left to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to prevent the worst effects of climate change. However, current narratives, steeped in despair and doom, are failing to motivate collective action. This talk presents a radical paradigm shift: A fusion of happiness science and climate science designed to ignite widespread climate action by tapping into the power of joy. My colleagues, Liz Dunn and Jade Radke, and I have conducted a series of pre-registered lab and field experiments to demonstrate both how to nudge high-impact actions to reduce carbon emissions while also promoting happiness, and how happiness benefits can increase the likelihood to take climate action. I’ll also discuss implications for climate policy and communication.

Jiaying Zhao, a.k.a. JZ, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. She is also a co-founder of UBC’s Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS) and a UBC Sauder Distinguished Scholar.

JZ uses psychological principles to design behavioural solutions to address environmental and financial sustainability challenges. She is a faculty affiliate of the Stone Centre for Wealth and Inequality at the Vancouver School of Economics and the Center for Effective Global Action at the University of California, Berkeley, and an invited researcher at J-PAL at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

1. Wildfire Risk and Resilience in Canada: What Motivates and Impedes Personal- and Property-Level Risk Mitigation?
   Kaitlyn Fallow* (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office, and Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada), Vivian Li (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office), Bryan Bogdanski & Keldi Forbes (Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada), & Sarah Wall & Kieran Findlater (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office)

2. Increasing Organ Donor Registrations Among BC Public Servants
   Karen Smallwood* (BC Ministry of Emergency Management & Climate Readiness), Talent Pun (Activision Blizzard), Shellee Ritzman (Metro Vancouver), Amy Watt (Lululemon), & Kate White (University of British Columbia)

3. TBA
   TBA

Track 1: Applying BI to Financial Challenges

1. Flexibility vs. Commitment in Saving for Emergencies: Interventions to Reduce the Intention-Behaviour Gap of Millennials in South Africa
   Marna Landman* (Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa)

2. Testing the Sensitivity of Post-Secondary Institution Decisions to Certainty in Financial Aid Provisions
   Annabel Thornton*, Angelique Saweczko, & Dwayne Benjamin (University of Toronto)  

Track 2: Applying BI to Health Challenges

1. How Behavioural Insights Are Increasing HPV Vaccine Uptake in Bangladesh
   Julie Szabo* (Capulet Communications), Sarah Francis & Sohail Agha (Behavioural Insights Lab), & Syju John (Capulet Communications)

2. A Behaviourally-Informed Approach to Food Consumption in Jersey's Primary Schools
   Owen Powell* (Influence at Work), Martin Knight (Government of Jersey), Jessica May (Government of Jersey), & Clara Federrath (Influence at Work)

Track 3: Applying BI to the Climate Crisis

1. Meta-Analysis on the Efficacy of Behavioral, Information, and Economic Strategies in Increasing Energy-Efficiency Adoption Among Households
   Tarun Khanna* (University of British Columbia), Diana Danilenko (MCC), Lukas Tomberg (RWI), Sven  Hansteen (RWI), Mark  Andor (RWI), Paul Lohmann (Cambridge), & Jan Minx (MCC)

2. Explaining Public Support for Net-Zero Climate Policy Instruments: Perceptions of Effectiveness and Fairness under Competing Frames
   Aaron Hoyle* & Katya Rhodes* (University of Victoria)

Track 4: Applying BI to Government Challenges

1. Testing Behaviorally Informed Messages to Strengthen Canadians' Resistance to Climate-Related Misinformation
   Kulpreet Cheema*, Kathryn Harper, Kaitlyn Fallow, Sarah Wall, & Kieran Findlater (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office)

2. Moving Beyond the Pandemic: Applying Behavioural Insights to the Use of Personal Protective Measures Against Respiratory Infectious Diseases 
   Paniz Tavakoli* (Privy Council Office), Tyler Good (Public Health Agency of Canada), Klajdi Puka (Privy Council Office), Sean Hinatsu & Toju Ogunremi (Public Health Agency of Canada), Christine Kormos & Kieran Findlater (Privy Council Office), & Mark Morrissey (Public Health Agency of Canada)

Track 5: Webinar About Behavioural Insights Courses
(In this track, there will be a short webinar plus time for Q&A.)

Responding to the Climate Crisis 

The climate crisis is not one single challenge, but rather a family of interconnected challenges that touch almost every aspect of life on our planet. In this session, we’ll look at three different challenges:

1. Planetary Healthcare: Andrea MacNeill (Vancouver General Hospital) will talk about the environmental impacts of healthcare and the relationship between human health and the health of our planet.

2. Conservation: Don Carruthers den Hoed (University of British Columbia & PARKS+ Collective) will talk about how good and bad behaviour inside and outside our parks impacts area-based conservation.

3. Disaster Preparedness & Reponse: Naureen Naqvi (UNICEF) will talk about preparing for and responding to disasters, which are increasing in size and frequency as our planet warms.

After our panelists introduce their challenges, Carl Jensen (BC BIG) will moderate a discussion about the role behavioural insights can play in tackling all three challenges. They will also discuss the power of creating partnerships and combining methodologies. Finally, our panelists will share lessons learned and next steps.

1. Behavioural Strategies to Combat AI-Enabled Retail Investor Scams
   Riona Carriaga* (Behavioural Insights Team), Matthew Kan*, Patrick Di Fonzo & Meera Paleja (Ontario Securities Commission), & Sasha Tregebov & Amna Raza (Behavioural Insights Team)

2. Using Behavior Change Communications to Tackle the Fentanyl Crisis
   Penny Norman* (Rescue Agency)

3. The Impact of Behaviorally Informed Communications on Uptake of a Cover Crop Cost-Share Program
   Cecilia Shang*, Jessica Li*, & Dana Guichon (ideas42), and Sarah Carlson, Lydia English, & Morgan Jennings (PFI)