Mapping green behavioural public policy in the EU

This paper presents an overview of the capacity and implementation of green behavioural public policy (GBPP), the application of behavioural science to climate and environmental policymaking, across all 27 EU Member States and Norway. A literature review introduces the behavioural dimensions of climate policy for readers new to the field, explaining how psychological mechanisms, cognitive biases and social contexts shape citizens’ engagement with the green transition, and why these factors matter for effective policy design. Using data gathered through the Network of Eurofound Correspondents, supplemented by desk research and verification by national experts, the paper then maps institutional GBPP maturity using an adapted six-stage framework. Eleven concrete policy examples, with a particular focus on green transport and energy efficiency, illustrate the breadth of available approaches, ranging from targeted behavioural interventions to system-level redesign. The findings point to substantial disparities: in 17 of the 28 countries assessed, little or no GBPP infrastructure could be identified, with documented capacity concentrated in a small number of north-western Member States. This uneven landscape poses a challenge for the EU’s just green transition agenda, as the Member States facing some of the greatest transition pressures often appear to have the least developed capacity to design the human-centred policies that can support it. Across the EU as a whole, including in Member States with well-established capacity, most identified applications cluster at the lower levels of policy ambition, with few initiatives deploying behavioural insights to reshape the broader decision environment. The paper argues that behavioural capacity should be enhanced across the EU, that Member States should move beyond isolated interventions and that EU funding instruments should be used as a lever for permanent institutional capacity-building.