In response to calls by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Council for Science (ICSU), and the International Group of Funding Agencies (IGFA) for better integration of the social sciences into global environmental change research, the IHDP Secretariat in 2011 undertook a large-scale global survey among 1,276 scholars from the social sciences and humanities. Aim of the survey, that was conducted in collaboration with UNESCO and the International Social Science Council (ISSC), was to document how social sciences and humanities scholars view research priorities related to global environmental change and to demonstrate that the human dimensions of the problem are equally important but severely under-addressed. Results were used to illustrate incentives and disincentives for engaging in this field and to frame the global sustainability research programme from a social sciences perspective.