Day 13 of 1415 minutes

Day 13: Behaviour, Culture & Public Engagement

Individual and collective behaviour change, public attitudes, and community action

Learning Objectives

  • Understand why behaviour change — individual and collective — is a necessary complement to technology and policy in achieving net zero.
  • Know the current state of UK public attitudes toward climate action and the factors that shape engagement.
  • Appreciate the role of community energy projects, citizen assemblies, and communication framing in building public support.

Technology Alone Won't Get Us There

Over the past 12 days, we've covered a vast range of technologies and policies — from offshore wind to heat pumps, from carbon pricing to biodiversity net gain. But there's a dimension that technology and policy can't address on their own: how people think, feel, and behave.

The CCC's Sixth Carbon Budget analysis made this explicit. It estimated that approximately 62% of the emissions reductions needed for net zero will require some element of societal or behavioural change — from adopting EVs and heat pumps, to reducing car travel, changing diets, and using energy more efficiently. Not all of these require sacrifice; many involve choosing a better or cheaper option when it becomes available. But some do involve genuine shifts in habits, expectations, and consumption patterns.

The challenge is that behaviour change at scale is hard. It's influenced by habit, cost, convenience, trust, social norms, identity, and how options are framed. Understanding these dynamics — and designing for them — is as important as any engineering innovation.

UK Public Attitudes: Supportive but Anxious

Polling consistently shows that the British public is concerned about climate change and broadly supportive of action. DESNZ's Public Attitudes Tracker — the government's most comprehensive survey on energy and climate attitudes — has shown for several years that a clear majority of the UK public (typically 80%+) report being concerned about climate change, and a majority support the net zero target.

However, support becomes more nuanced when specific measures are discussed. People tend to support renewable energy deployment strongly (wind and solar enjoy very high approval ratings) but are more cautious about measures that affect them directly — particularly the cost of switching to heat pumps, potential restrictions on car use, and changes to diet. The cost-of-living crisis has amplified anxiety about the affordability of the transition.

Trust is a significant factor. The public tends to trust scientists and environmental organisations more than politicians and energy companies on climate issues. How messages are framed matters: research from the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) at the University of Bath has shown that people respond better to messages that emphasise co-benefits (warmer homes, cleaner air, lower bills) than to messages focused on sacrifice or distant threat.

DESNZ's Public Attitudes Tracker consistently shows over 80% of the UK public report being concerned about climate change — but support for specific measures drops when they involve personal cost or inconvenience.

Framing and Communication: What Works

Climate communication has evolved significantly in recent years. Researchers and practitioners have learned that:

Localising the message works. People engage more with climate impacts they can see and relate to — local flooding, air quality in their neighbourhood, energy bills — than with abstract global statistics.

Positive framing is more effective than doom. While urgency is important, research suggests that fear-based messaging can lead to disengagement and helplessness. Framing climate action around opportunity, agency, and co-benefits tends to be more motivating.

Trusted messengers matter. Hearing about insulation from a neighbour who's done it, or about EVs from a colleague who drives one, is more influential than any government campaign. Peer effects and social norms are powerful.

Making the invisible visible helps. Many aspects of energy and climate are abstract — carbon emissions, grid carbon intensity, heat loss from buildings. Products and campaigns that make these tangible (thermal imaging of homes, real-time carbon trackers, personal carbon footprint calculators) can shift awareness and behaviour.

The Climate Assembly UK, a citizens' assembly held in 2020, demonstrated what happens when a representative group of the public is given time, information, and deliberative space to consider net zero. The assembly strongly supported the net zero target and produced nuanced recommendations — including support for onshore wind, diet change, and aviation reform — that reflected a more sophisticated understanding than typical opinion polls capture. It showed that public engagement, when well designed, can build informed support for ambitious policy.

Community Energy: Power from Below

One of the most energising developments in the UK climate landscape is the growth of community energy — local organisations that develop, own, or invest in renewable energy projects, energy efficiency schemes, and climate initiatives.

There are over 300 community energy organisations in England and Wales, according to Community Energy England. Projects range from community-owned solar farms and wind turbines to energy advice services, group-buying schemes for insulation, and local EV charging cooperatives. Notable examples include Repowering London (which develops community-owned solar installations on social housing in Brixton and elsewhere) and Energy Local (which enables communities to buy electricity directly from local renewable generators at reduced rates).

Community energy matters for several reasons. It builds local ownership and engagement — people are more supportive of renewable infrastructure they have a stake in. It can direct economic benefits (income, jobs, reduced bills) to the local area. And it provides a practical, tangible way for people to participate in the transition, moving from passive consumers to active agents.

However, community energy faces barriers: complex planning and licensing regulations, difficulty accessing finance, and a policy environment that has not always been supportive. Advocates have called for a dedicated Community Energy Fund and regulatory simplification to unlock the sector's potential.

There are over 300 community energy organisations in England and Wales, delivering everything from community-owned solar farms to local energy advice and group-buying schemes for insulation.

The Psychology of Climate Engagement

Why do some people engage deeply with climate action while others disengage or resist? The psychology is complex, but several well-documented factors are relevant:

Psychological distance. Climate change can feel far away — in time, geography, and personal relevance. Reducing this distance (through local framing, personal stories, and tangible examples) increases engagement.

Identity and values. Climate action is often associated with particular political or cultural identities. Research from groups like More in Common has shown that many people — particularly those they categorise as the 'exhausted majority' — care about the environment but don't see themselves as 'environmentalists.' Broadening the identity of who climate action is for is important.

Agency and efficacy. People are more likely to act if they believe their actions matter. Conversely, a sense of helplessness — 'what difference can I make?' — is a major barrier. Community projects, collective action, and visible impact metrics can counter this.

Choice architecture. Behavioural science shows that defaults, framing, and the structure of choices powerfully influence decisions. Green defaults (e.g. opting in to renewable energy tariffs, defaulting new cars to zero emission) can shift behaviour at scale without restricting freedom.

Key Takeaway

Public support for climate action in the UK is broad but shallow — it deepens when measures are framed around tangible benefits, delivered through trusted messengers, and designed in ways that give people genuine agency and ownership over the transition.

Quick-Fire Recap

  • The CCC estimates approximately 62% of net zero emissions reductions require some element of behavioural or societal change.
  • Over 80% of the UK public report concern about climate change, but support drops for measures with personal cost.
  • Climate Assembly UK (2020) showed that deliberative public engagement builds more nuanced and ambitious support for action.
  • Over 300 community energy organisations operate in England and Wales, building local ownership and engagement.
  • Behavioural science principles — localisation, positive framing, trusted messengers, green defaults — are critical tools for driving engagement.

Reflection Prompt

Think about a time you changed a significant personal habit (diet, exercise, commuting, spending). What made the difference — information, social influence, a new product, a financial incentive, or something else? How might those lessons apply to climate-related behaviour change?

Sources & Further Reading

  1. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, "DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker", DESNZ, 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/desnz-public-attitudes-tracker
  2. Climate Change Committee, "Sixth Carbon Budget – The UK's Path to Net Zero", CCC, December 2020.
  3. Climate Assembly UK, "The Path to Net Zero", Climate Assembly UK, 2020. https://www.climateassembly.uk/report/
  4. Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), "Research Publications", University of Bath, 2024. https://cast.ac.uk/
  5. Community Energy England, "State of the Sector Report 2024", Community Energy England, 2024. https://communityenergyengland.org/
  6. Repowering London, 2024. https://www.repowering.org.uk/
  7. Energy Local, 2024. https://energylocal.org.uk/
  8. More in Common, "Britain's Choice: Common Ground and Division in 2020s Britain", More in Common, 2020. https://www.moreincommon.com/

Through a Product Designer's Lens

This entire day is, essentially, a design brief. If 62% of net zero reductions require behavioural change, then the people designing the products, services, and interfaces through which those changes happen hold enormous influence.

Behavioural design and nudging are central. The principle of 'green defaults' is one of the most powerful tools available. When Octopus Energy signs up a new customer, the default tariff could be 100% renewable — with an option to switch to a cheaper non-green alternative. When a car configurator loads, the first option shown could be the electric model. When a smart thermostat is installed, the default schedule could optimise for both comfort and carbon. These design choices, applied at scale across millions of users, can shift aggregate behaviour far more than information campaigns.

From a UX/UI perspective, making energy and carbon 'visible' is a rich opportunity. Loop (a UK company) and similar smart meter companion apps have shown that giving people real-time feedback on their energy use changes behaviour. The next generation of these products will integrate carbon intensity, solar self-consumption, EV charging optimisation, and comparison with neighbours — the design possibilities are enormous.

The service design opportunity in community energy is also compelling. Current community energy projects succeed despite, not because of, the user experience of participating. The processes for joining a cooperative, investing in a scheme, or accessing benefits are often arcane. A well-designed digital platform that simplifies community energy participation — from discovery through investment to ongoing engagement — could unlock a sector that is currently held back by friction and complexity.

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