How can behavioural science and psychology be leveraged to drive meaningful climate action? What unintended consequences might arise from heavy-handed government mandates versus more subtle interventions? And in the face of the climate crisis, is it ethical to actively promote the use of fossil fuels?
UN Secretary General António Guterres certainly doesn’t think so, and has called for fossil fuel advertising to be banned in the same way that tobacco advertising was, due to its adverse impacts on human health.
This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich welcomes Ogilvy UK Vice-chair Rory Sutherland to explore the role of psychology and behavioural science in tackling the climate challenge. Rather than relying solely on policy, regulations, and technological solutions, Sutherland argues that understanding human decision-making and tapping into our innate psychological drivers could be a catalyst for widespread behaviour change.
From the power of "satisficing" and "psycho-physics" to the importance of signaling and subconscious hacking, Sutherland delves into the forces that shape our environmental choices - both for better and for worse. The conversation also grapples with the quandary of whether actively promoting fossil fuels is justifiable, even as a "messy intermediate phase" in the transition to clean energy.
For those interested in data on which advertising groups continue to work with fossil fuel companies, a list has been compiled by the organisation Clean Creatives ([ Ссылка ]). In 2018, WPP (Ogilvy’s Parent Company) was appointed as oil and gas company BP’s preferred global partner. When asked about WPP and Ogilvy’s inclusion on the F-list, WPP commented: "WPP and Ogilvy have not commented publicly on the accuracy or validity of the F-List’s research. However, several of the contracts named on the F-List are wrongly attributed to Ogilvy. They are in fact relationships with an entirely different agency, OGR, formerly known as Ogilvy Government Relations. Other than ownership by WPP, OGR has had no connection to Ogilvy since 2011 and they rebranded last year to avoid historical confusion."
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, EcoPragma Capital, EDP of Portugal, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit [ Ссылка ].
Links:
• Rory’s book, Alchemy: [ Ссылка ]
• Ogilvy UK: [ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
02:54 - Is Marketing Evil?
06:05 - Why We Need Marketing
07:54 - Alchemy
09:25 - Making Climate Fun
13:06 - Signalling
17:00 - How to Change Signalling Patterns
18:18 - Subconscious Hacking
21:43 - Satisficing
23:15 - The Problem With Solar
27:19 - Psychophysics
30:10 - Changing Perspectives
33:19 - Selling Public Transport
35:44 - Getting Rid of Cars
38:08 - Taxing Shorthaul Travel
40:20 - Mandates vs Persuasion
43:02 - Working with Fossil Fuel Companies
45:00 - Part of the Solution?
47:00 - Virtue Signalling
49:10 - Imbalanced Debate
55:00 - Is Climate Change Misdirected?
59:00 - Contrarian Gadflies
01:03:58 - Outro
