Nudges and Other Behavioural Public Policy Instruments to Encourage Environmentally Friendly Behaviour

Citation

Nova F & Lades L (2022) Nudges and Other Behavioural Public Policy Instruments to Encourage Environmentally Friendly Behaviour. PublicPolicy.ie. Dublin. https://publicpolicy.ie/environment/nudges-and-other-behavioural-public-policy-instruments-to-encourage-environmentally-friendly-behaviour/

Abstract
First paragraph: Policymakers all over the world have started using behavioural public policy instruments to encourage behavioural change in various areas such as health, finance, and the environment (UN Behavioural Science Group 2021). These instruments rely on insights from behavioural economics and psychology on how people behave and how they interact with their decision environments. The behaviourally informed approach contrasts with policies that are guided by theoretical models on how people should behave in given situations such as the rational actor model from economics (Thaler 2015). Behavioural insights allow policymakers to better anticipate how people actually react to policies and to design behaviourally informed interventions that can help citizens to make better choices for themselves and for society (Hansen 2019).