Behavioural Changes

Across the world, governments are calling on citizens to change their energy-consuming habits to contribute towards net zero emissions goals: 

• Different information campaigns have been launched, often via social media and email newsletters, to generate awareness and make suggestions on different ways to reduce energy use in the home. In South Africa, since 2020, the "Use electricity smartly" campaign has made recommendations on how to reduce electricity usage during peak consumption hours. The government of Japan has urged citizens to limit their energy use when possible, and Tokyo residents are encouraged to watch less television. In 2022, many countries including Denmark, Germany, Ireland, and Sweden launched national campaigns that promote measures such as reducing shower times, lowering the thermostat, or adjusting water heating settings. 
• The Sobriété Energétique [energy sobriety] programme in France, launched in 2022, introduced a host of behavioural measures, including reducing speed limits to 110 km/h on highways for government employees, stipulating that lighting for businesses, offices and advertisement billboards must be switched off at night, increasing cash incentives for remote working and introducing subsidies for drivers practicing regular carpooling. 
• Transport infrastructure investments are also being made to help drive modal shifting. In Brussels, Belgium, a new fleet of 94 electric buses, 90 trams and 43 metro trains will improve public transport services. In China, there are plans to expand the existing high-speed rail network by around one-third by 2025. 
• In 2022, Hungary extended the winter school holiday and reduced the autumn holiday in order to save energy. 
• In 2020, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency of India mandated that new air conditioning units be sold with a default pre-set temperature of 24 °C.  
• In Spain, a four-day working week is being considered by the government following its introduction by an increasing number of companies, in part to reduce energy use. The government of Pakistan has officially shortened the working week, and furthermore is examining a mandatory remote workday on Fridays to conserve energy. 
  

Behavioural changes play a significant role in reducing annual CO₂ emissions in the NZE Scenario. Their role is critical, in part due to the continued use of carbon-intensive assets. Even as clean technologies expand across markets, some of these assets will remain in use. For example, in the NZE Scenario, around 80% of the cars on roads still have internal combustion engines in 2030. Behavioural measures, including efficient driving and lower speed limits, therefore help to address continued CO₂ emissions from road transport.  

The extent and pace of behavioural changes in the NZE Scenario is not uniform around the world, and in some places the need for enabling infrastructure as well as gradual shifts in cultural and social practices will delay their adoption.   

However, some of the behavioural changes that address emissions from carbon-intensive assets, such as gas boilers, can happen today. Whilst being simple changes, these actions pack a punch – limiting heating to 19-20 °C in buildings would reduce cumulative emissions from fossil fuel boilers by 10% through to 2030.   

More action is needed by policy makers to stimulate the adoption of these practices, although government responses to the current energy crisis indicate that progress is being made. For examples of the kinds of measures governments can take to enable behavioural changes, see this IEA commentary on policy interventions for behaviour change. 

Behavioural changes can help address hard-to-abate sectors, where technological options to reduce emissions are scarce or expensive. This is particularly relevant in aviation due to high activity growth. The unprecedented reduction in flying caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in 2020 only reduced CO₂ emissions to slightly below their 2000 levels, highlighting just how high and how quickly emissions have risen in the past two decades.    

Without behavioural changes, aviation activity in 2030 is nearly 20% higher. For car travel and heating and cooling, behavioural changes keep activity levels almost stable in 2030 compared to today.   

Behavioural changes that reduce overall demand also play a key role in lessening the burden on new sources of clean energy, including renewables and bioenergy. This is especially relevant in advanced economies where consumption is higher. For example, in the NZE Scenario, in 2030 70% of heating demand reduction takes place in advanced economies.

The ongoing energy crisis creates a window of opportunity for crisis response measures. Across the world, governments are calling on citizens to change their energy-consuming habits to contribute to a solution to energy shortages. This can help initiate social learning to prolong welfare-enhancing changes after the crisis has subsided.  

Policies such as the ones mentioned above are broadly aligned with the NZE Scenario, where the set point temperature of space cooling is raised to 24-25 °C and heating limited to 19-20 °C, where possible, by 2030. Reducing speed limits to 100 km/h – which is currently only recommended in some countries, such as Austria – must be formalised by 2030 to keep transport on track. Government directives also largely neglect aviation, where shifting regional flights to high-speed rail and reducing demand growth for long-haul flights are key to decarbonising transport in the NZE Scenario.  

To reduce emissions long-term these measures must be strengthened and prolonged beyond the immediate crisis. Sustained changes are crucial not only for energy security, but also to reach pressing climate goals.