Why you should reward climate action

The best way to start your team on their sustainability journey is to motivate them, by rewarding climate action. When you recognise and incentivise sustainable behaviours, you reinforce the culture and values that make those behaviours stick.

Take it from us; rewards can drive people to make measurable impact that will help end the climate crisis. By acknowledging everyday actions, you help embed those habits into daily routines. Better still, you can do it without big budgets or time-heavy planning.

What climate action can you reward employees for?

No doubt there are countless small but meaningful ways your team is already contributing to sustainability. But these green activists can become green champions. You can empower these employees to spread the word by rewarding them for:

• Shouting-out sustainable activities
• Participating in a challenge like meat-free days
• Encouraging others to get involved
• Suggesting new green initiatives
• Completing sustainability learning modules

Celebrating these kinds of contributions are the first step to getting everyone in your team to change their daily habits.

1. Recognise achievements with a simple thank you

Sometimes, the easiest way to reward climate action is the most powerful. Verbal recognition – a sincere, public thank you – can go a long way. You could give your colleague shout-out in a team meeting or just a quick message on Slack.

Either way, this no-cost approach builds trust and shows appreciation with just a bit of recognition. Kind words cost nothing but carry real weight. Just be sure to link recognition directly to the behaviour you want to see more of, and you’ll find people competing to take those behaviours.

2. Let peers nominate each other

People value recognition from their colleagues just as much as from leaders. Set up a peer-to-peer recognition system where team members can nominate one another for taking sustainable actions. A shared spreadsheet, form, or Slack channel can work—no fancy tech required. You can then highlight nominees weekly or monthly, reinforcing a team-wide culture of climate action. This simple approach promotes inclusivity and shared ownership.

London Gatwick Airport allow employees to give out ‘sustainability high-fives‘ to recognise and encourage behaviours that contribute to their sustainability initiatives. During their pilot programme with Team Jump, they saw an increase in high-fives as people started acting more sustainably.

3. Offer flexibility as a reward

Time is one of the most valued non-monetary ways to reward climate action. Offering an early finish, a longer lunch break, or a bonus afternoon off for hitting sustainability goals shows you value your team’s wellbeing as much as their contributions. Not only does this approach have a high perceived value, it’s also budget-friendly and easy to implement.

4. Use personalised experience vouchers

For something a bit more memorable, give personalised activity vouchers. perhaps a local eco-workshop, a plant-based cooking class, or a wild swimming pass, tailoring rewards to the individual’s interests makes it more meaningful. It doesn’t have to be expensive—one-off vouchers can be budget-controlled and still deliver strong impact. A personal touch can turn a small gesture into a big motivator.

With a Team Jump programme, you can select a list of vouchers for your team to choose from that align with your organisation’s values. That way, members can choose their own reward for their sustainable actions.

5. Create a visible “Wall of Climate Champions”

Public recognition drives visibility and pride. A digital or physical wall of fame showcasing employees who’ve made a meaningful environmental impact can inspire others to follow. Feature photos and a short story about what they did—did someone switch to cycling, reduce plastic use, or engage others in a challenge? This idea is easy to set up and helps embed climate action into your organisational identity.

Our programmes have an activity feed, where users can see the sustainable actions that their friends, neighbours and colleagues are taking. This is what’s called ‘social proof’ and it’s one of the most effective ways to encourage behaviours, by reinforcing them as the norm.

6. Share their stories in internal comms

Reward climate action by featuring someone’s climate contribution in your newsletter or intranet helps scale recognition across the organisation. It’s also a great way to spotlight new ideas and build positive social pressure. You don’t need to produce some over-the-top glossy content, you can simply share their achievement and explain why it matters.

This is one of the services we provide as part of every Team Jump programme. We take care of the internal comms, so you don’t have to. Whether its reminding your team to take part or recognising all those who do, we’ll create regular email and social comms to help increase sustainability engagement in your organisation.

7. Run mini-challenges with low-effort prizes

Make it fun. Launch a mini sustainability challenge, like “zero waste week” or “meat-free Monday” and offer a small prize to everyone who completes it. You don’t need huge incentives. Try a fairtrade snack box, a reusable water bottle, or simply a plant for their desk. In our experience, the sense of achievement and visibility is what really drives engagement..

Reward climate action without burning out

If you’re reading this, odds are you’re a sustainability manager with so much on your plate, but very little capacity to help you achieve your goal. By embedding simple, low-cost ways to reward climate action, you’ll build a stronger, greener, and more connected workplace.

That’s where we can help. We provide the framework for you to easily motivate and incentivise sustainability in your team with our low-cost gamified rewards programmes. Book a demo with Team Jump and see how we can create a culture of sustainability today.