Nudges: Making the behavioural shift to sustainability

SOStainabilityWeekly

Edited by Oke Epia, E-mail: sostainability01@gmail.com  | WhatsApp: +234 8034000706

Trends and Threads

By Ella Haines-Messenger

Researchers have extensively explored ways to motivate people to choose sustainable actions, often through psychological interventions. These can include more traditional interventions, such as offering money incentives, like “hand in your used cans and get money back,” or governmental regulations, like the sugar tax.

However, while these kinds of traditional interventions rely more on people’s conscious motivations, another way to change someone’s behaviour is known as nudging.

Nudging is a unique kind of intervention that focuses on the unconscious shortcuts and biases people make every day.

Nudging is, by definition, a cheap and easy-to-avoid recommendation that aims to make a certain behaviour more attractive. A well-known example is when a shop places healthy foods on higher shelves compared to unhealthy foods, making them more easily accessible to customers, a phenomenon known as a “repositional nudge.”

There are many kinds of nudges, with some more widely accepted than others. This blog will provide a few examples related to sustainability, explain the underlying mechanisms that make them effective, and conclude with some of the ethical challenges to consider when thinking about nudges.

By the end of this blog, you will look at the world around you a little differently, and I daresay start picking out nudges all around you.

Social norms

One of the most popular forms of nudging, social norms involve making people aware of what “most” people are doing, for example, “80% of hotel guests reuse their towels.” “More and more students are choosing plant-based meals.” “7 out of 10 customers bring their own coffee cup.”

Due to psychological mechanisms such as in-group bias, a phenomenon where people tend to follow the crowd and align with the majority, social norms are an effective way to promote sustainable actions. While people are still freely able to make their own choices, these messages steer people towards the sustainable majority.

Default rules 

One of the most effective forms of nudging when it comes to changing people’s behaviour is default rules, such as…

• Printers typically have double-sided, black/white printing as the default unless specified otherwise, saving paper and colour ink
• Universities are making vegetarian meals the default lunch, and students have to ‘opt-in’ to have meat-based lunches, decreasing meat consumption
• Car rental companies are making electric cars a default unless customers specifically request petrol/diesel cars, reducing fuel emissions

A part of being a human is typically going with the easiest course of action, known as inertia, taking the path of least resistance. While these examples still afford people their free will to choose alternative options, the sustainable choices are set as a standard ‘default’.

Informational nudges

Seen as a more ‘upfront’ type of nudge, informational nudges are in the name:

• Smart meters, allowing people to monitor their energy usage in real-time and giving them the information they need to make greener choices
• Stickers on bins reminding people of what rubbish belongs in which bin
• Available CO₂ impact information about certain routes to nudge commuters towards greener transport options

Less about harnessing people’s brains and more about providing them with useful information to make an informed choice, this type of nudging remains a firm favourite for increasing sustainable behaviour.

Nudging and the ethical challenge

While nudging is strictly bound to ensure people can maintain their free will, some people believe that nudging takes advantage of others, pushing them towards a pre-dictated choice. Who gets to be in charge of setting an ‘ideal’ way to live? Furthermore, how can people choose freely when they aren’t even aware they are making a choice? Nudging can utilise the cognitive shortcuts in a person’s brain, which some countries, in particular, frown upon, such as Germany and Denmark. However, there are ways to combat these concerns, such as ensuring nudges are transparent and providing people with sufficient control to make their own choices.

Take control of sustainable behaviour

Now that you have a bit more knowledge of a very common way people are steered towards certain behaviours, you may look around and see some nudges in your environment. Nudges hold great promise for promoting sustainability in both daily life and the workplace, encouraging sustainable behavior. However, I would emphasise the importance of consulting a professional to ensure it is done effectively and ethically.

Ella Haines-Messenger writes on behaviour change, sustainability, and how everyday actions can shape a better future.

Flakes and Flaks 

Bille Gas Leak and the Shame of a Nation 

The puzzling lack of accountability for the environmental injustice perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry against the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria has been well documented. Perhaps the unborn can weaponize the records to demand appropriate restitution and reparation – the precise outcomes past and current generations of victims have not been able to achieve in full.  And until accountability begins to bite and perpetrators, colluders, and collaborators are brought to justice, appropriate redress applied, and formidable deterrant measures established, the effrontery to perpetuate the status quo can only continue with impunity.   

That is what is playing out in Bille Community, Degema local government area of Rivers State. Since November 2025, there has been a toxic gas leak, which no organ of state has been able to fathom, let alone address and identify perpetrators. For over ten months, the people of Bille have endured this grave environmental assault, health hazard, and existential threat to their livelihoods. Water sources have been contaminated. Land use for farming and other production activities is imperiled. The people are in constant fear of fire, while disease vectors are on a rampage. It is worse that there is no end in sight. It is incredibly incredulous that this is happening in 2026, not 1956 when the black gold was first discovered in Ogoni, same Rivers State.

This deeply distressing situation was brought to further public attention at a hearing in the House of Representatives last week. Two agencies of the Federal Government with regulatory responsibility over the issue – the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) – were invited for questioning. The former was absent. So was the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, and officials of the Rivers State Government. This is how irresponsibility and lack of accountability festers. Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on South South Development Commission, Julius Pondi, said the probe was a fact-finding exercise with the aim of putting an end to the prolonged nightmare.

“As representatives of the Nigerian people, we have a duty to ensure that operators in the oil and gas industry conduct their activities in accordance with extant laws, government regulations and international best practices, while ensuring that host communities are adequately protected from avoidable environmental and safety hazards,” he said. Unfortunately, there were no answers to the questions posed by the lawmakers. The representative of NOSDRA, Engr Chukwuemeka Woke, Mr Cytrus Nkangwung, confirmed that the agency officially received notification of the incident on 25 November 2025. So why has nothing been done since then?

“This incident is not the regular incident that attracts reporting. It is not a leak from any facility. It is gas bubbling that enveloped the community. When we became aware of it, we reached out to stakeholders within the community. It is different from a conventional oil spill,” another official from the agency said, much to the chagrin of the lawmakers. Chairman of the House Committee on Host Communities, Robinson Dekor, could not hide his displeasure. “I feel sad sitting here listening to what you are telling us today. Gas is bubbling from the ground, and after all these months, you are still telling us you do not know the cause.” The leak is unabating. Causes cannot be established. Culprits cannot be identified. Zero accountability. 

Sadly, not much help emerged from the parliamentary hearing. Meanwhile, Bille and its people continue to suffer from the collective shame of a nation. 

Industry Monitor

Energy Transition: Good Boost for EV, CNG, and LNG

A piece of good news for Nigeria’s energy transition emerged last week. The Customs Service announced a zero per cent duty for importation of Electric Vehicles, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) into the country. These products will also attract zero per cent Value Added Tax (VAT), the Service said.

“Pursuant to the approved fiscal incentives, the importation of specified environmentally friendly and gas-powered vehicles, equipment, and components shall enjoy exemption from the payment of Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT),” the statement from NCS said, providing clarity on the exemptions thus:

“The approved categories include Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuel vehicles (100 per cent CNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) fuel vehicles (100 per cent LPG), Pure Electric Vehicles (100 per cent Electric), Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREVs) with a minimum pure electric range of 200 kilometres, CNG and LPG conversion kits for petrol and diesel vehicles, tricycles and motorbikes certified for resale by the Federal Ministry of Finance, as well as semi-trailers configured with skid-mounted CNG, LPG, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage tanks for gas distribution.”

“The implementation of these fiscal incentives is intended to support the Federal Government’s broader objectives of reducing transportation and energy costs, encouraging investment in clean energy infrastructure, expanding the adoption of alternative fuel technologies, and strengthening Nigeria’s energy security and environmental sustainability agenda.”

This policy is commendable for several reasons, including alignment with the broader national agenda to use gas as a transition fuel. It will have a positive ripple effect on transportation by encouraging the adoption of CNG, which in turn, helps to reduce the environmental footprint of the sector. The policy will also facilitate the switch to electric vehicles which are quite expensive to acquire.