Individual Behavior, the Social Sciences, and Climate Change
22 Pages Posted: 6 Aug 2015 Last revised: 13 Aug 2015
Date Written: July 27, 2015
Abstract
Individual behavior is an important aspect of climate mitigation. After an initial focus on large industrial sources, developments in the social and behavioral sciences and legal theory in the 1990s and early 2000s have supported the development of new initiatives targeted at individuals and households. The initiatives have included local, state, and national government use of traditional regulatory measures, market mechanisms, and behavioral interventions. In recent years, gridlock in the US and other countries over climate policy also has led to increasing use of private and public-private hybrid initiatives in climate change mitigation. The complex influences on individual behavior and the challenges of designing and implementing large scale, effective interventions have resulted in large gaps in existing knowledge and many opportunities for research in law, policy, and social science.
Keywords: Individual Behavior; Households; Norms; Beliefs; Climate Change Mitigation
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