Behavioural economics for energy and climate change policies and the transition to a sustainable energy use — A Scandinavian perspective

The Scandinavian region has been at the forefront of energy and environmental policies for decades. While significant effort has been devoted to the supply side and development of technology markets, our study questions the extent to which policy efforts have effectively and explicitly addressed behavioural factors affecting the adoption and the use of low-carbon energy technologies at the individual and household level. Building upon behavioural economics, we explore behavioural factors and the role of economic and noneconomic aspects affecting energy use and decarbonisation activities in the region. Overall, we argue that greater attention needs to be given to behavioural issues in policy design, implementation, and evaluation. At the same time, behavioural interventions are unlikely to be a panacea that can steer sustainable energy use by itself, and both price and nonprice interventions are required. We conclude that a more stringent, integrated behavioural and technological policymaking approach is needed.