Behavioral Interventions for Climate Mitigation in Developing Countries: Overview and Prospects

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10704965231190118
• Author: Stefan Drews,Jeroen van den Bergh
• Date: 01 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Journal of Environment &

Development

2023, Vol. 32(3) 223–242

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/10704965231190118

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Behavioral Interventions

for Climate Mitigation in

Developing Countries:

Overview and Prospects

Stefan Drews

1

and

Jeroen van den Bergh

2,3,4

Abstract

Behavioral interventions are increasingly being considered as useful complements of

traditional climate-policy instruments. These interventions are so far mostly being

studied and applied in high-income countries. Here, we examine their application to

achieve carbon emissions reduction in low- and middle-income countries. This involves

synthesizing evidence from meta-analyses and systematic reviews from developed

countries and deriving general insights for developing countries. We also review

evidence from primary studies in developing countries, organizing insights by major

world regions. We discuss context dependence of f‌indings, as well to what extent

behavioral interventions are complementary to, and create synergies with, other policy

instruments. We hope that the present overview serves as starting point to expand the

currently small evidence base on climate-relevant behavioral interventions in devel-

oping countries. Suggestions are made how to move this research forward.

Keywords

information, nudge, climate change, behavior, global south

1

Department of Applied Economics, University of M´

alaga, Malaga, Spain

2

Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Aut`

onoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

3

ICREA, Barcelona, Spain

4

School of Business and Economics & Institute of Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam,

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Corresponding Author:

Stefan Drews, Department of Applied Economics, University of M´

alaga, Avenida Francisco Trujillo Villanueva

1, Malaga 29071, Spain.

Email: stefan.drews@uma.es

Correction (August 2023): Article updated onlineto correct the word “Bursura”to “Busara”.The related

reference and its citation have also been corrected.

Introduction

In recent decades, a large body of human behavioral research has emerged. To

complement pricing and other traditional instruments, this research has examined how

new policy instruments built around behavioral insights can contribute to address

societal problems, including climate change. Various terms exist to label these in-

struments, such as information provision and “nudges,”where the latter denote subtle

changes in individuals’choice architecture. Here, we use the broader term “behavioral

interventions”to encompass both approaches.

1

Such interventions intend to trigger

demand-side changes that contribute to climate change mitigation (Creutzig et al.,

2018), but they may also be applied to change organizational business decision-making

(e.g., Liebe et al., 2021).

In 2021, the UN secretary-general provided a guidance note on behavioral science,

stating that “in the UN System, interventions leveraging behavioral science are already

being piloted and applied”(UN, 2021). Despite much research and public recognition,

it appears as if behavioral interventions, compared to structural, country-wide policies,

are not yet frequently implemented in actual climate-relevant policy making. This holds

especially true for developing countries (Mundaca et al., 2019). Moreover, it should be

noted that behavioral interventions are typically implemented at a small or even project

scale, such as in cities, communities, or companies. To inform policy decisions on

behavioral interventions, here we will summarize evidence on their effects on be-

havioral change and associated emissions reduction. This pays attention to general

aspects of behavioral interventions for climate policy such as information provision and

nudges, and their actual and potential application to developing countries. While there

are several review articles (mentioned in the second section) for high-income countries,

to our knowledge there is no summary and discussion of evidence for middle- and low-

income countries. Here, we will f‌ill this gap.

The remainder of this overview article is organized as follows. The second section

discusses the role of behavioral interventions, introduces general features of these

instruments, and summarizes evidence on effectiveness as assessed by various meta-

studies. The third section deals with assessment of experiences and impacts for distinct

world regions. The fourth section discusses context dependence of f‌indings and ex-

amines potential systemic impacts as well as positive and negative synergies of in-

struments. The f‌inal section draws conclusions and makes general suggestions for

future research.

Evidence for Effectiveness of Behavioral Interventions

Several meta-analyses and quantitative reviews have summarized the effects of be-

havioral interventions. We focus here on more recent papers, that is, approximately

from the last f‌ive years. While these have paid only scant attention to developing

countries (mainly due to lack of data), they can nevertheless provide a useful overview

of the types and effects of such policy instruments. One meta-analysis of residential

energy use includes 360 effect sizes from 122 studies for 25 countries whose samples

224 The Journal of Environment & Development 32(3)