The Low Carbon Lifestyle Wheel
You’ve invested in low-carbon solutions. Now you need people to actually use them.
Stuck in the value–action gap with your consumers? Failing to get take-up of new low-carbon innovations or packaging? Struggling to get citizens on board with infrastructural changes? The Low Carbon Lifestyles Wheel turns the IPCC’s household-level climate insights into specific, high-impact behaviours that businesses, policymakers and campaigners can actually influence.
The concept of personal carbon footprints is often contested but as part of wider infrastructure and policy change, lifestyle shifts have a critical role in reaching net zero. This report focuses on high-emitting households in the Global North and pinpoints where behaviour change can rapidly unlock meaningful “demand side” emissions reductions.
From value–action gap to benefits
You might also be worried about the value-action gap. This report challenges this notion. We outline instead a set of value-intention barriers that must be removed.
Only benefits can bust through barriers, so we introduce a new mix of functional, social and emotional benefits designed to close the gap and spark real, personal behaviour change on climate.
The Action Wheel
At the heart of the report is the Action Wheel, a clear, visual guide to the lifestyle behaviours that matter most, from mobility and food to homes and consumption. Each behaviour links back to IPCC evidence and is framed so it’s specific, actionable and measurable, giving you a practical tool to design campaigns, products and policies that people can genuinely adopt.
Download the Report
Download the Low Carbon Lifestyles Wheel to:
- Identify which high-impact behaviours your organisation can realistically influence.
- Design campaigns, products and policies that are behaviorally specific, measurable and aligned with IPCC science.
- Reframe low carbon living around compelling functional, social and emotional benefits that close the value–intention gap.
- Build a virtuous circle between public action, business innovation and policy change on the path to net zero.
Collaborators
About Futerra
Futerra is a global change agency with offices in London, New York, San Francisco and Mexico City. For 25 years, Futerra has led the sustainability transition, partnering with brands, NGOs and institutions to turn climate science into creative strategy, products and campaigns that people love.
About BEworks
BEworks is a pioneering behavioral science consultancy that applies rigorous experimental methods to real world business and policy challenges. In this collaboration, BEworks helps ensure that the Low Carbon Lifestyles Wheel is grounded in robust behavioral insights that can shift how people choose, consume and live.
About WBCSD
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a global community of leading businesses working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. Supporting the Low Carbon Lifestyles Wheel aligns with WBCSD’s mission to scale science based climate solutions and empower companies to advance low carbon lifestyles through innovation, collaboration and policy engagement.