Estimating the environmental benefits of plant-based nudging

Today’s industrial food systems contribute significantly to climate change and environmental degradation. Mitigating food-related impacts may require some level of behavioural change by consumers. Some of this change can be implemented using nudges, specifically in the form of choice architecture or default interventions that lead to increased consumption of less environmentally harmful, plant-based options. This study offers a framework for calculating the differences in emissions, land use, and water use attributable to the implementation of a plant-based nudging strategy at a generic conference. A customisable Excel model enables readers to calculate impacts from their own event or run their own analysis. A case study using this framework demonstrates a significant decrease in food-related emissions, land use, and water use from plant-based nudging alone, although these results are highly dependent on many factors including the efficacy of the intervention and the ingredients chosen.

当今的工业化食品系统对气候变化与环境退化有着显著的负面影响。要缓解食品相关的环境影响，消费者需要进行一定程度的行为改变。其中部分改变可通过助推（nudge）手段实现，具体采用选择架构或默认干预的形式，引导消费者更多选择对环境危害更低的植物基（plant-based）食品。本研究提出了一套分析框架，用于计算在通用会议场景中实施植物基助推策略所带来的排放、土地使用与水资源使用差异。配套的可自定义Excel模型可帮助使用者根据自身举办的活动计算环境影响，或开展自定义分析。基于该框架开展的案例研究表明，仅通过植物基助推手段即可显著降低食品相关的排放、土地占用与水资源消耗，但该结果高度依赖诸多因素，包括干预措施的有效性以及所选食材的类型。