Behavioral science for climate action
People will help the planet if you ask them properly.
We run experiments on the moments where a good intention can turn into action: a checkout page, a pre-ticked box, a prompt that reaches someone at the right time. We find the small changes that help people follow through, and hand the evidence to the companies and policymakers big enough to use it.
Try it yourself
Same booking step, rebuilt. More people gave.
We recreated checkout donation asks in three simulated booking experiments with confidential airline partners. In Phase 1, participants could keep their study payment or give part of it to charity. Flip the switch to see a simplified clean baseline-and-redesign comparison.
Add to your trip
Make a contribution to our climate programme
Enter an amount to add to your booking total.
GBPof participants donated real money with the baseline booking flow.
A simplified representation of the baseline request used in the confidential airline experiment.
Clean Phase 1 comparison: baseline n = 242; redesigned n = 239. Donations were deducted from study payments and transferred to charity (p = .005).
Our two kinds of evidence answer different questions. Separately from the airline work, an online study with no money at stake found 69% chose to add a conservation contribution and 75% preferred the platform that asked. That study measures appetite for the idea. The airline studies above measure behavior when the money is genuinely theirs.
Both studies, with methods and limitations →What comes next
The evidence is ready for a live test that measures revenue.
participants completed three simulated booking experiments. Phase 1 measures consequential donation behavior; a production A/B test measures ticket sales and abandonment.
A production A/B test should measure contribution uptake, completed bookings, and customer response together.
What the study establishes
In Phase 1, donations were deducted from participants' study payment and transferred to charity. Phase 2 amount comparisons used hypothetical choices and estimate projected donations.
See the per-experiment results and limitations ->Putting the evidence to work
A European travel operator’s sustainability team reviewed the research and is taking the redesign in-house to develop it further and test it internally.
The study flows were simulated. A real production test is where the design can be checked against completed bookings, customer experience, and an operator’s own baseline.
One method, two programs
Most people want to help. We just need to create the right moment.
Caring is often already there. What matters is building the next step well. A traveller who would happily give something needs a donation moment that has actually been tested. A household that invested in solar panels deserves a clear read on what dirt on the glass is costing. In both cases, the willingness to act is already there.
Both programs do the same job. We take information that is technically public and practically useless, and turn it into something a person or a company can act on: airline climate performance out of the disclosures airlines already file, rooftop solar losses out of aerial photographs anyone can download. We publish the method with the result so people can check our arithmetic.
In the field
Hear the research in conversation
Our work travels beyond reports and tools through public radio, community forums, and conference rooms.
Media and talksLatest research
Real-money giving rose in three confidential booking experiments.
The team
Lawyers, climate scientists, and engineers on the same problem
Samantha Vroomen, J.D.
Cofounder & Legal Counsel
Craig Fellers, Ph.D.
Cofounder & Research Lead
Stefan Omelchenco, Ph.D.
Researcher & Climate Scientist
Hunter Delaney
Behavioral Data Analyst
Joshua Ramirez
Researcher & Tools Developer
Cameron Gordon
Engineering Lead, Machine Learning & Full Stack