The Center for Behavior and Climate (CBC) is seeking applications for our Behavior Change for Climate Action Challenge 2026. The application is just three pages, and the deadline is November 1, 2026. To request application, email infocbc@bds.com.  

Applying behavior change to climate change can lead to more effective collective and individual climate actions. Together, collective and individual efforts provide the scaffolding for the systemic change we need to solve the climate crisis. 

Accordingly, The Center for Behavior and Climate (CBC) has secured funds from the Agape Foundation for a sixth year (with the ABA Climate Coalition as our fiscal sponsor) to increase the use of behavior-change approaches to climate action at a community level through the Behavior Change for Climate Action Challenge 2026. Last year, we received 31 applications from around the world.

We are most interested in behavior change that encourages high-impact climate actions (specifically, reducing CO2 emissions). We are open to nonprofits applying whose proposal addresses any of the following climate areas: collective or individual actions on renewable energy; electrification of cars, trucks, or buses; building benchmarking; energy efficiency; public action (e.g., policy support, volunteering, protesting, voting for politicians supporting climate action), food choices, or blue carbon restoration. This grant opportunity is intended to influence adults: groups or individuals (ages 18 up). We do not fund environmental education projects for children (K–12).

Climate areas of interest include but are not limited to: collective or individual actions on energy conservation, public action (e.g., policy support, volunteering, protesting, voting for politicians supporting climate action, food choices, tree planting, soil restoration, blue carbon restoration, renewable energy, and electrification of cars, trucks, buses. 

Applicable evidence-based behavior change include, but are not limited to, the following: make it easy, nudges/choice architecture;  prompts;  justification;  instructions; rewards; feedback; social modeling (social norms, block leaders, community interventions); cognitive dissonance; commitments; setting goals; games; and tools to counter cognitive biases.

This year, CBC will select three nonprofits for this challenge. Each of the selected nonprofits will receive:

1) free technical assistance to learn how to apply behavior change for climate action from the CBC (workshop and continued technical support);

2) $7,000 in funds to apply behavior change to an existing or new climate action project.

Behavioral tools that we teach in the free technical assistance include:

TOOLS FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION

• social norms (dynamic, working together)
• social identity
• tools to increase response efficacy
• legacy motivation to counter present bias

TOOLS FOR INDIVIDUAL ACTION

• tools to break a habit
• tools to increase efficacy
• tools to address cognitive biases

Take your climate efforts to the next level.  To request application, email infocbc@bds.com.  We look forward to your application.