Green Nudging: A Behavioral Approach to Environmental Policies

Humanity is facing several environmental challenges such as pollution of the earth, water, and air, scarcity of water resources, and a decline in biodiversity, to name a few. The human factor appears to be a determinant, at least in part, of those environmental threats. How to make people behave in a more environmentally friendly manner is thus an urgent issue. Traditionally, environmental policies rest on the notion of economic rationality (the “Homo Oeconomicus” paradigm), whereby it is assumed that human action is selfishly guided by utility maximization. Accordingly, these policies are based on bans, mandates (e.g., legal norms and associated penalties), incentives (e.g., taxes, prices), and information provisions (e.g., education programs). Since the pioneering work by Herbert Simon on bounded rationality, an alternative paradigm to that of the “Homo Oeconomicus” has been emerged. This theoretical background is the backbone of the so called “behavioral public policies”, and specifically those related to the “nudging” approach. In this chapter, we will discuss the behavioral approach to environmental policy, whereby alternative tools to bans, mandates, and economic incentives are used to promote a pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Specifically, four nudges will be described to give the reader a few examples of how the nudge approach can be used to promote a PEB. The psychological mechanism underlying those nudges will be discussed. Additionally, it will be shown how the behavioral approach is quite inexpensive and can be extremely powerful. At the end of the chapter, the general discussion will address current criticisms (e.g., effectiveness and ethical considerations), and open perspectives about the environmental public policies.