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The successful achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) largely depends on human behavior. Will people act sustainably when they consume, work, travel, or simply go about their lives? Only if the answer is yes can we truly make progress toward sustainability. Research into what influences SDG-supportive behavior has identified several factors. However, some studies emphasize knowledge, others highlight economic barriers, and still others focus on traits and psychological factors—rarely all at once. In this paper, we aim to broaden this perspective. By reviewing multiple sources, we develop and empirically test a comprehensive model of sustainable behavior. We propose that awareness of sustainability issues influences how individuals interpret and understand societal challenges. At the same time, a person’s motivational orientation will determine whether they internalize sustainability values as their own beliefs and develop positive attitudes toward the SDGs. Nonetheless, even if individuals strongly believe in sustainability, their actions also depend on other factors. Using data from the Japan Household Panel Survey on Sustainable Development Goals, this study constructs psychometric measures and creates a nomological framework to examine the mechanisms behind the formation of sustainability behavior. The findings suggest that prosocial peace orientation and awareness of sustainability issues positively influence sustainability values and attitudes, which, in turn, shape sustainability behaviors.

The study aims to systematically map and describe the evidence on individual’s sustainable consumption behaviour and energy and transport use in Africa. The paper employed Arskey and O’Malley’s’ framework of 2005 as a guide to conduct a scoping review. Using keywords separated by Boolean terms (AND/OR) with all limiters removed, relevant published studies in Science Direct, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar were searched. Full-text screening guided by the inclusion criteria was independently conducted and data extraction was done using a piloted form to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data. The results revealed that out of 176 studies, six met this study’s inclusion criteria and were included for data extraction. Among the six included studies, two were multi-country studies involving African countries, and study each was conducted in Ghana, Mauritius, South Africa, and Egypt. Of the included studies, five were on sustainable energy consumption domain, one on energy use and recycling behaviour, and the factors influencing sustainable energy consumption; price, income, urbanization, intention, attitudes, subjective norms and personal values. However, we found no evidence on individual’s sustainable consumption behaviour and transport use. Concluding, the results suggest that limited studies on sustainable consumption behaviour of energy and transport use are found in Africa. Therefore, further studies are needed to protect the gains made so far on environmental sustainability as well as to encourage and improve the individual’s sustainable consumption practices.