Editorial: Behavioral Insights for a Sustainable Energy Transition

Abstract

In December 2015, 195 countries adopted the Paris Agreement, which aims at a substantial reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to keep the increase in global average temperature to 2°C or less. The successful implementation of this global energy transition does not only depend on the development of new energy technologies, but also requires major changes in the patterns of individual energyrelated choices and behaviors. The behavioral sciences can thus make important contributions to the energy transition by providing insights into the factors and mechanisms that underlie these behaviors. To this end, three main challenges need to be addressed: (1) to investigate and systematize the factors that influence energy-relevant choices and behaviors; (2) based on these insights, to develop and test interventions that promote more sustainable behavior; and (3) given that individual behavior takes place in a political and economic context, to integrate behavioral insights into the context of these larger systems. These challenges are taken up in the contributions of this research topic, which cover the fields of psychology, affective science, behavioral economics, economics, sociology, consumer behavior, business science, sociology, and political science. Here, we give an overview of the contributions and discuss some implications and recommendations for a successful energy transition.