To select effective interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change, we need to consider determinants of behaviour

Abstract

Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour is necessary to reduce CO2 emissions and limit global climate change. Many reviews and meta-analyses have been published examining the effectiveness of interventions to promote pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, it remains unclear which interventions are most effective, when and why. Because interventions are more likely to encourage pro-environmental behaviour when they target key determinants of the relevant behaviour, it is critical to understand which interventions target which determinants. We introduce a classification system that links six types of interventions to 13 determinants of environmental behaviour. Our classification enables a theory-based understanding of when and why interventions are effective (or not) in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour and provides guidelines to practitioners to select interventions that are most likely to change the key determinants of a specific target behaviour, and thus likely to be the most successful in changing behaviour in the given context. When and why are interventions to encourage pro-environmental behaviour effective? van Valkengoed and colleagues introduce a classification system that links different interventions to the determinants of environmental behaviour. On the basis of this classification system, they provide guidelines for practitioners on how to select interventions that are most likely to change the key determinants of a specific target behaviour.