New Research Shows How Employers Can Turn Climate Concern Into Everyday Action at Work

Many employees say they worry about climate change, yet struggle to turn that concern into concrete choices at work. New research by Berend van der Kolk, Eelke Wiersma and Willemijn Odekerken suggests organisations can close that gap—encouraging climate-conscious staff to act more consistently, while also nudging colleagues who feel indifferent toward environmental issues to adopt greener routines.

The backdrop is increasingly stark. After a year marked by extreme heat, floods and storms, climate change is harder to dismiss, and scientists widely expect pressures to intensify in the coming decade. The World Meteorological Organisation’s Global Climate Update warns that average global temperatures over the next five years are likely to remain at—or close to—record highs. At the same time, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been unequivocal that “human influence” is a key driver of the warming trend.

Because organisations contribute substantially to greenhouse gas emissions, the researchers argue that employers have a responsibility—and an opportunity—to reduce future harm. For many people, work is also where they believe their actions can have the greatest impact. Survey data cited in the study indicates strong appetite for a green transition: about 70% of white-collar employees and 57% of blue-collar workers say they are ready for it. Yet companies and public institutions face real constraints in shifting to greener models. The World Economic Forum, for example, points to obstacles such as high energy costs and difficulties securing financing.

To examine what can work in practice, the researchers studied sustainability efforts within a Dutch municipal government given the pseudonym “Suntown” to protect anonymity. The city administration is known as a relatively ambitious “green” leader, making it a useful setting to identify workplace levers that can translate intentions into action.

The team focused on employees whose day-to-day decisions have direct environmental consequences. Some worked in the city’s “physical domain,” where choices include which materials—recycled or otherwise—are used in public spaces such as parks. Others were involved in procurement, shaping purchasing decisions that ripple through supply chains and influence the municipality’s carbon footprint.

The researchers designed a survey to understand how internal management tools and practices affect employee behaviour. They paid particular attention to three organisational mechanisms: a sustainability budget, policy documents, and a sustainability roadmap.

In Suntown’s case, the sustainability budget does more than allocate money. It includes carbon dioxide reduction targets for 2030 and specifies which municipal domains are expected to deliver parts of that reduction. Policy documents add another layer of accountability: each is expected to explain the sustainability implications of a proposal, project or policy decision. The Suntown Sustainability Roadmap then ties targets to timelines—setting out the municipality’s CO₂ reduction goals for 2030 and 2040, the planned approach for meeting them, and additional activities required. One concrete example described in the roadmap is an assignment for the energy transition team: connecting more than 5,000 “home equivalents” to a heat network.

The study’s first key finding is a nuanced one: employees who are already concerned about environmental issues often behave more sustainably than their peers, but not consistently. When they do, it shows up in choices such as favouring recycled materials and prioritising options that reduce environmental impacts. The broader message, however, is that organisational design—through budgets, required justifications in policy paperwork, and clear roadmaps—can shape behaviour directly and indirectly, making sustainable choices easier to adopt across the workforce.

Why it matters

If concern about climate change does not reliably translate into workplace action, organisations risk missing a major source of emissions reduction that sits in everyday decisions. The Suntown case highlights practical governance tools—targets, budgeting, and mandatory sustainability rationales—that can help turn values into measurable outcomes. What to watch next is whether more employers adopt similar mechanisms, and how effectively they overcome external barriers such as energy prices and financing constraints.