Jake Reynolds

I'm excited to share the news that our climate change project won the @spspnews.bsky.social Robert Cialdini Prize for a "paper that uses field methods and demonstrates the relevance of social psychology to outside groups and communities"!

You can read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@waiterich.bsky.social — here’s a few food transition facts I LOVE ⬆️

Widespread diet change is not new. Don't tell me we can't green the food system 🥗

A history lesson ⬇️

🥔 ~1500s. Potatoes are introduced to Europe: Initially nicknamed ‘devil’s apples’, people suspected potatoes were poisonous. Nowadays, traditional European cuisine is unimaginable without it

🧵⬇️

Generalizability of choice architecture interventions - Nature Reviews Psychology Choice architecture interventions (or ‘nudges’) aim to guide behaviour by changing the proximal physical, social or psychological environment. In this Review, Szaszi and colleagues show that the avera...

New paper just dropped:

Szaszi, Barnabas, Daniel G. Goldstein, Dilip Soman, Susan Michie. (2025). Generalizability of Choice Architecture Interventions. Nature Reviews Psychology.

Thanks to @szaszibarnabas.bsky.social for doing the lion's share!

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

1️⃣ We are also guilty of over-generalizing behavioral measures. Especially across domains: e.g. donating to a green charity ≠ reduce meat consumption ≠ taking the bus ≠ etc. How are we feeling about that challenge?

2️⃣ How are we feeling about self-report climate actions as a quasi-behavioral measure?

Big fan of this @fdabl.bsky.social 👀

I'd love to pick your brains about a few related Qs about how tricky measuring green choices can be ⬇️

Expressing intentions is not climate action letter published in PNAS: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2512457122

In our now published letter in @pnas.org, we raise two wider issues for behavioral science:

1) Intentions are poor predictors of behavior
2) Effects on intentions need not generalize to effects on behavior

We join calls for researchers to measure actual behavior: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Despite all the negativity in parts of the press:

Change is happening. It’s not a straight line but things are moving.

More and more people understand that relying on increasingly volatile and expensive fossil fuel imports is not a viable pathway.

*COUGHS LOUDLY*

Climate Change Must Be Core to Business Education | Columbia Business School Climate change is reshaping global markets—and business schools must adapt. Columbia Business School Professor Bruce Usher explains why climate literacy is critical for future business leaders and how...

Climate literacy is critical for future business leaders—and MBA programs are evolving to meet this challenge, says Professor Bruce Usher.

Understanding six “key truths” about climate change predicts policy support, discussion, and political advocacy - Climatic Change Effective communication is critical in efforts to limit and manage the risks of climate change. One empirical approach to crafting effective communication is to start with communication objectives, th...

Understanding these "six truths" - it's real, it's us, experts agree, it's bad, others care, and there's hope - predicts pro-climate attitudes and support for climate policies, @yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social finds.

In particular, (see next post) ...

The mission to update with the most recent evidence.. ⛰️📚🤯 But I'm game. Let's chat!

A brilliant idea — I’m game 👀

But what I like most about this paper?? 👀

The LEAST informed about green choices benefit the MOST from learning about impact 📈

It turns challenges like 'low carbon competence' into an opportunity for big change ⬇️

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... @elisugerman.bsky.social, @ericjjohnson.bsky.social

... and this can extend to showing people precisely what to do to be greener ⬇️

Climate psychologists are often the first to say: ‘information alone doesn't change green behavior’ ❌

But, we are wrong.

You can do a lot of heavy lifting just through education, especially about what the correct green action is! ⬇️

Huge thanks to @kristiansn89.bsky.social, @dgoldwert.bsky.social, @madalina.bsky.social, @mattgoldberg100.bsky.social and Yash Patel 👏👏👏

♻️📣 Telling. people. about. how. green. their. actions. are. helps. them. to. make. green. choices. 📣♻️

🆕New data shows: education helps the least informed most. The more wrong you are about an action’s impact 🌍 the more you shift it once you learn the truth 📊⬇️

This is so cool guys. I can't update slides quick enough to keep up 👏✍️

Climate action literacy interventions increase commitments to more effective mitigation behaviors Abstract. Reducing lifestyle carbon emissions is a critical component of decarbonizing society. However, people hold substantial misperceptions about the r

🧠🌍 Can you correct misperceptions of the impact of different climate actions?

In a new @pnasnexus.org paper, we tested whether climate action literacy interventions can shift behavioral commitments toward more effective climate actions. Check out our neat results 🙂
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ad...

Thanks!!

A pie chart and bar chart illustrating the share of emissions reduction in 2040 that relies on household low-carbon choices. The pie chart shows that 37% of emissions reduction comes from household choices, while 63% does not. The bar chart breaks down household-driven reductions: 42% from electric vehicles, 30% from low-carbon heating, 6% from reduced meat and dairy consumption, 1% from land-use changes due to diet shifts, 6% from maintaining current flying levels, 4% from energy efficiency in homes, 3% from modal shifts, and 8% from other smaller actions (e.g., waste reduction, recycling, efficient appliances). The source is the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

✨New✨ climate report makes one thing clear about Net Zero...

🔋Electrification
🔋Electrification
🔋Electrification

Behaviorally:

📈 37% of CO₂ reductions come from household behavior changes

📈 72% of these reductions come from electrification: EVs (40%), heat pumps (30%).

Chuffed to be cited 😊

🧵⬇️

20mph limits in London linked to sharp fall in road injuries and deaths, new report finds A new study published by Transport for London (TfL) has shown that the introduction of 20mph speed limits and zones on local authority-managed roads in London between 1989 and 2013 led to significant…

Study on London 20 mph limits shows:
- collisions ⬇️ 35%
- casualties ⬇️ 36%
- fatal/serious injuries ⬇️ 34%
- child casualties ⬇️ 46%
- child deaths ⬇️ 75%
- walkers, cyclists, motorcyclists killed/seriously injured ⬇️ 28%

etsc.eu/20mph-limits...

Diagram describing the mobility, health and environmental benefits of walking and cycling.

One of my all time favourite reports includes this attempt at summarising the benefits from investment in active travel.

It’s one of the best investments a government can make - something acknowledged within many of DfTs own reports.

Link: www.who.int/europe/publi...

EU close to reaching climate goals despite green backlash Bloc is within one percentage point of meeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction target by 2030

NEW: The EU is (shock horror) almost on track to meet its 2030 climate goals, officials with knowledge of data to be published next week told the FT.

www.ft.com/content/4abd...

Here Is Everything That Has Changed Since Congestion Pricing Started in New York Fewer cars. Faster travel. Less honking. And some questions we still can’t answer.

Fewer cars. Faster travel. Less honking. Here are the things that have shifted since congestion pricing went into effect in New York.

Behavioral interventions motivate action to address climate change | PNAS Mitigating climate change requires urgent action at individual, collective, and institutional levels. However, individuals may fail to act because ...

What motivates people to take action and share info about climate change? We tested 17 psychological interventions in a tournament—Discover the winners in our new paper! Out now in @pnas.org w/ @falklab.bsky.social, @michaelemann.bsky.social, & team. Thread ⤵️ 1/9

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Incredible findings on impact of LEZ & ULEZ

⬇️ significantly reduced PM10 & NO2 levels

⬇️ sick leave reduced by 18.5%

⬆️ improved general health

⬇️ reduced incidence of long-term health conditions and respiratory issues

⬆️ mental well-being & happiness

💷 est. savings exceeding £37 million per year

Guest post: How human behaviour shapes effective climate policies - Carbon Brief in a major review for the Climate Change Committee, my co-authors and I outlined what behavioural science can tell us about how to deliver effective climate policy

How does human behaviour shape effective climate policies? #EarthDay

Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, from @cast-centre.bsky.social and @bath-iscc.bsky.social at the University of Bath, explains the vital role for consumer and business behaviour change.