The ethics of digital nudging for sustainable energy consumption – A closer look at the EU Green Deal

Digitally nudging consumers towards sustainable energy consumption is a practice favoured by multiple EU-funded (research) projects and is an accepted tool for reaching the goals of the European Green Deal. The morality of digital energy nudges, as we will refer to them, yet remains under-investigated. In this article, we address this lacune by first defining digital energy nudges. Then, we elaborate on the EU green deal and how it stimulates (digital) energy nudges. We then analyse the ethical issues and the efficiency issues created by digital energy nudges, especially those instigated or funded by governments. We argue there are significant ethical issues that need to be addressed. Finally, we provide recommendations for policy advisors, governments and other practitioners on how to create ethical and efficient digital energy nudges, with a focus on recommendations for the EU • Defining digital energy nudges (inspired on Saghai, 2013 ) as: A digital energy nudge created by A makes it more likely that B will reduce their energy consumption and/or rely more on renewable energy sources, by creating digital environments using design and interaction elements to trigger B’s shallow cognitive processes, whilst preserving B’s choice-set. • Highlighting the relationship between digital energy nudges and the EU green deal, arguing that projects funded the EU green deal stimulate the use of digital green nudges and that this creates ethical issues. • Analysing the ethial issues as well as the efficiency issues created by digital energy nudges, esspecially those instigted or funded by governments. The article distinguishes between issues to do with adverse consequences, including the creation of psychological burdens, instigation of antagonistic psychological reactions, creation of short term effects, polarization, and depolitization, and issues to do with inherent traits, including violation of autonomy, injustice, and hypera-agency. • Providing recommendations for policy advisors, governments and other practioners on how to create ethical as well as efficient digital energy nudges. The recommendations are seperated into substantial and procedural recommendations. The substantial recommendations are to beware of nudges aimed at social norms, create clear democratic mandate, and focus on inclusivity for all EU citizens. The precedural recommendations are to create test cases, share results, create a mechanisms through which citizens can protest digital energy nudges, and to investigate the potential of boosts rather than nudges.