Behavior & Decision-Making, Climate Change
CoolClimate Network
CoolClimate is an applied research and innovation program at UC Berkeley that develops practical solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. CoolClimate combines carbon footprint research, data science, behavioral science, public policy, urban planning, and software development to help households, businesses, universities, governments, and communities identify and implement effective climate actions.
CoolClimate’s work includes peer-reviewed research, household and business carbon calculators, climate planning and decision-support software, large-scale engagement programs such as the Cool Campus Challenge and CoolCalifornia Challenge, student internships and university teaching, and professional outreach through conferences, webinars, and partnerships. Current initiatives include ClimatePlans, a data and implementation platform designed to support climate action by California local governments and communities
The CoolClimate Network is a university-government-business-NGO partnership at UC Berkeley. Its mission is to massively scale up the adoption of climate solutions by combining rigorous carbon footprint science with insights from behavioral economics and decision-making research. Over nearly two decades, CoolClimate has built tools and programs that go beyond awareness to address what actually motivates people: community connection, social norms, local pride, and the visibility of collective action.
CoolClimate pioneered consumption-based greenhouse gas accounting at the household and neighborhood scale, developing some of the first online calculators to capture the full carbon footprint of transportation, energy, food, goods, and services. Millions of people have used these tools through cities, universities, and organizations. Building on that foundation, CoolClimate ran statewide behavior change competitions among dozens of California cities and then across all ten UC campuses, engaging roughly 20,000 participants who collectively took over 200,000 documented climate actions. Research from those programs revealed that people engage with climate action for a wide range of reasons beyond environmental belief, and that community context and positive social feedback are far more motivating than material rewards.
CoolClimate’s current work centers on city-level climate dashboards through climateplans.org, where anyone can explore a California city’s greenhouse gas inventory alongside data on transportation, buildings, equity, income, and affordability. The project has evolved from a data portal into a community engagement platform, locally customized and built around what communities already care about, whether that’s climate, safety, or livability. Integrated tools include household and business carbon calculators, a social challenge platform that makes sustainability actions visible and shareable, and targeted messaging informed by behavioral science.
GHG projections from this work have shifted CoolClimate’s outlook on California’s climate targets: many are within reach with focused local effort. CoolClimate’s dashboard tools are designed to help local governments implement policies, track progress, and advocate for the communities most affected by the transition.