$25 Grand Prize: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change DEADLINE: August 7, 2018

July 02, 2018

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(Solutions Search) Climate change needs behavior change.What people eat, what they buy and what they use contributes directly to climate change. In just eight months, humans consume what the earth can sustainably produce in a single year. Nearly two-thirds of global emissions are linked to both direct and indirect forms of human consumption – even conservative estimates for the potential of changing behaviors to reduce consumption of natural resources suggest an enormous contribution to reducing global emissions.

Human behavior is the root cause of climate change. It can also be the solution.But we know that people are more complicated than the narrow solutions we often design to influence them. We can use what we know about human behavior and decision-making to help consumers make climate-friendly choices.

Changing behavior can be hard – but it’s not impossible. Innovators all over the world are already addressing climate change by inspiring individuals, households and communities to change their behavior. The problem is, these grassroots solutions often go unnoticed. This is why we are launching Solution Search: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change – a worldwide contest to find and spotlight solutions that use behavior change to fight climate change.

To inspire people to change, we need innovative solutions that meet them where they are – using the power of emotional appeals, social incentives and choice architecture as expertly as we apply economics and policy.

We are looking for solutions that apply behavior change insights to inspire and enable people to change the way they consume – the way they cook, eat, dispose of waste, purchase goods, travel, and more. What could these solutions look like? Campaigns and efforts that:

Increase plant-rich diets
Reduce end-user food waste
Increase adoption of clean cookstoves
Increase demand for products such as locally-grown staple trees, crops grown through regenerative or conservation agriculture, kelp or certified sustainable wood
Reduce consumption of energy, water or relevant products, such as paper or cotton
And otherwise reduce greenhouse gas emitting behaviors amongst individuals, households and communities

Do you have a successful strategy for helping consumers reduce their carbon footprint through behavior change?If so, you could win $25,000, a workshop in Washington DC with fellow change-makers, and the opportunity to share your solution globally.

We have categorized behavior adoption strategies into three core approaches:

Emotional appeals: Unleash the power of emotions to drive change
Social incentives: Change social norms to influence adoption
Choice architecture: Utilize context and timing to support change

The most urgent environmental challenges of our time share one thing in common – to solve them, people have to start behaving differently. Submit your entry and tell us how you've made a difference. READ MORE