India’s global call for climate behaviour ideas

Like many nations, at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), India announced its target of reaching net-zero carbon. India set its target for 2070 – an ambitious goal, given it is currently the third largest emitter of carbon globally. Yet India’s announcement differed from many other countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced Mission LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment), to bring individual behaviours to the forefront of global climate action. Looking to 2023, when India will host the G20 summit agenda, the government has revealed their theme for the year – ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ – signalling an even stronger focus on climate change and behaviour. 

Changing climate behaviours globally is nothing short of a mammoth undertaking. So how does India plan to do it? As the country soon to achieve the status of largest population in the world, India knows about scale. The LiFE Mission seeks to leverage the strength of networks to influence social norms surrounding climate, and nurture a global community with a shared commitment to adopt and promote environmentally friendly lifestyles at scale.

NITI Aayog, the public policy think tank of the Government of India, in partnership with the United Nations, World Resources Institute, Centre for Social and Behaviour Change (CSBC) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have put out a global Call for Ideas to support the Mission. They are calling on the world for empirically informed, measurable, and implementable ideas in the following areas:

• Behaviour-change solutions aimed at individuals, households and communities to drive climate-friendly behaviours in sectors, including, but not limited to water, transport, food, electricity, waste management, sustainability, recycling, and reuse. 
• Innovative solutions that promote wider adoption of traditional, climate-friendly, sustainable practices and/or create livelihood options for communities that may lose their jobs with a shift towards climate-friendly production.
• International, national and/or local best practices that can be feasibly scaled-up for driving behaviour change related to climate action.

The Global Call for Ideas will receive submissions until 31st December 2022, and authors of the accepted ideas will be invited to present their work during an international conference in India. Additionally, authors of the top 5 ideas will be awarded with:

• Ambassador for LiFE Award at COP28, hosted by UNFCCC
• USD 25,000 to test and pilot their idea(s) in India
• Opportunity to present in person at the Global LiFE conference in India
• End-to-end implementation support from NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change to scale their ideas

We at BIT are excited about India’s call for ideas. We are particularly keen to submit ideas in relation to waste management, food and transport, as we have tried and tested behaviour change interventions in these areas before.  We are always looking for ways to make an impact, so reach out to us if you want to collaborate on designing solutions for climate change. We also encourage those working in climate change or related areas to submit an idea to support India’s great initiative.