Perception of climate change and the energy transition: results from a European survey

To achieve national and European climate targets, political leaders will need to feel confident that their citizens generally support efforts to drastically reduce CO2 emissions. An in-depth research project, called European Perceptions of Climate Change (funded within the Social-Ecological Research program), provides insights into public support for climate change related policies across four European countries. The project team identified a widespread support for the Paris climate agreement and for renewable energy solutions, which suggests that there might be an opportunity for climate movements to gain momentum

Speak up for Change? Understanding the Social Costs and Benefits of Confronting Environmental Disregard.

In the face of stagnation in efforts to tackle the global increase of greenhouse gas emissions, there is a great need to broaden our understanding of normative processes that maintain and change social norms in relation to environmentally (un)sustainable lifestyles. My research aims to address this gap in the literature by examining the normative processes associated with climate change. More specifically I focused on identifying the interpersonal costs and wider benefits (in terms of social change) associated with the interpersonal confrontation of environmental disregard. Firstly, to establish a meaningful point of comparison for subsequent studies, I compared the normative status of environmental disregard and racial prejudice (Studies 1 & 2). I then moved on to examining perceptions and consequences of interpersonal confrontation of environmental disregard over the course of six studies by placing participants in the position of an observer of an interaction in which the confrontation occurred. The results consistently identified high social costs (reduced feelings of closeness and warmth) associated with confronting environmental disregard (but not racism). The costs of confronting environmental disregard were partly determined by the morality of the issue, the appropriateness of the confrontation, the pre-existing attitude of the observer and the justification used by the confronter for their reaction. My studies also tested different strategies to reduce the social costs for the confronter (such as invoking morality in different ways) and also assessed the consequences of confrontation for changes in perceptions of social norms, climate change attitudes and behavioural tendencies amongst those bearing witness. In relation to the consequences for behavioural tendencies resulting from interpersonal confrontation, the findings suggest that confrontation of environmental disregard encourages pro-environmental action tendencies if a scientific justification for the confrontation is provided. The final chapter of the thesis explores the theoretical and practical implications of these findings in relation to engendering processes of social change.University of Exete

British public perceptions of climate risk, adaptation options and resilience (RESiL RISK): Topline findings of a GB survey conducted in October 2019

This report summarises topline findings from a nationally representative survey conducted in October 2019 with 1,401 British respondents to examine public perceptions of climate change, its associated impacts, and to map public support for climate change adaptation and resilience building strategies. The survey results provide evidence for a shift in perceptions among the British public towards greater concern and a general willingness to support steps to address the issue. By comparing the current survey results to previous studies conducted in 2010, 2013 and 2016, this report illustrates how public beliefs have altered over recent years

By popular demand: what people want from a resource efficient economy

To make a successful transition to a low carbon, resource efficient economy, businesses and governments need to understand what people value and want from the products and services they use. This report presents findings from research carried out by the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials and Products (CIE-MAP) on public attitudes towards policies intended to improve resource efficiency. The analysis is based on a detailed, representative survey and focus group data collected between 2016 and 2018. Significantly, the research shows that measures offering the biggest carbon savings, and over which the government has most control, are those that are most popular with the public. Here, we demonstrate how government and businesses can make the most of the opportunity offered by resource efficiency for household goods to improve material use and reduce emissions

Generational differences in climate-related beliefs, risk perceptions and emotions in the UK

It is widely believed that younger generations are more engaged with climate change than older generations. However, evidence of a gap in climate-related perceptions and concern is mixed, likely due to the inconsistent use of outcome variables. Here we systematically examine generational differences across different types of climate engagement including cognitive and affective dimensions. Using data from three nationally-representative surveys conducted in the UK in 2020, 2021 and 2022, we show there is an overall pattern of higher levels of climate-related beliefs, risks perceptions and emotions among younger generation groups. However, the gap is larger and more consistent for climate-related emotions than for climate-related beliefs. While generational differences in climate-related emotions were found across all years, the overall gap has disappeared due to narrowing climate-related beliefs and risk perceptions. The generational differences are therefore mainly in emotional engagement rather than in beliefs about anthropogenic climate change

The norms associated with climate change:understanding social norms through acts of interpersonal activism

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.A growing body of research points to the role social norms may play in both maintaining carbon intensive lifestyles and soliciting changes towards more sustainable ways of living. However, despite highlighting the importance of pro-environmental social norms, such literature has said far less about the processes by which such norms might develop. We present a new approach to conceptualising social norms that focuses on understanding their dynamics within social interaction, by positioning interpersonal confrontation as a potential mechanism of change. We examine the normative dynamics of environmentalism by comparing the costs of interpersonally confronting climate change disregard with those associated with confronting racism. In two experimental studies, we presented participants with scenarios describing a person confronting (versus not confronting) contentious comments in each domain. We identified social costs to interpersonal confrontation of climate change disregard but not racism, as indicated by reduced ratings of perceived warmth of and closeness to the confronter (Study 1), and this effect was mediated by the perceived morality of the issue in question (Study 2). Our findings highlight how wider social constructions of (im)morality around climate change impact upon social interactions in ways that have important implications for processes of social (and ultimately environmental) change.This research was supported through an Exeter Graduate Fellowship from the University of Exete

RESIL RISK Northern Ireland: public perceptions of climate risks and adaptation in Northern Ireland

RESIL RISK Northern Ireland follows up from RESIL RISK, a research project that explored UK wide public perceptions of climate change and support for resilience building strategies. As part of the original project, a first survey was conducted with 1,401 British respondents in 2019 and a second (unpublished) survey repeated the survey during the global Covid-19 pandemic in October 2020. Furthermore the project informed a report summarising implications for effective climate communications, published in 2019 . While the original RESIL RISK maps out public perceptions of climate risks and support for adaptation strategies across the British public and provides insights into how these public perceptions are formed, it does not offer the opportunity to understand the unique situation of devolved UK administrations. Each UK region faces unique challenges when building regional resilience to the impacts of climate change and understanding how these translate into potential differences in public risk perception is essential for building climate resilient communities and nations. Northern Ireland is a post-conflict society where the most socially vulnerable experience disproportionate flood risks, and on average are exposed to higher expected annual damage costs in flood prone areas than any of the other UK nations . This project provides up to date insights into public perceptions of climate risks and support for adaptation strategies in Northern Ireland at a time when the country has ambitious Climate Legislation awaiting Royal Assent. Key research results and associated recommendations from RESiL RISK Northern Ireland are summarised in this report to support Government, local government and civil society action at a key time influencing legislation in progress and shaping the next NI Climate Change Adaptation Programme

Social identity and risk perception explain participation in the Swiss youth climate strikes

Since late 2018, young people around the world have united to demand greater action on climate change. Aside from their stated concerns and demands, however, very little is known about why young people have been joining this growing movement. Using a large sample (N = 4057) of people in Switzerland aged between 14 and 25, we show that social identity is most strongly associated with participation, followed by beliefs about the effectiveness of youth strikes, level of education, and worry about climate change. Our findings affirm the relevance of both climate change risk perceptions and social identity-related processes for collective climate change action, and pave the way for promising opportunities in theory development and integration. The study also provides lessons for those who seek to maintain and increase collective action on climate change: concern about climate change is an important motivating factor, but social identity processes are at least as relevant for young people’s participation

By popular demand: what people want from a resource efficient economy

To make a successful transition to a low carbon, resource efficient economy, businesses and governments need to understand what people value and want from the products and services they use. This report presents findings from research carried out by the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials and Products (CIE-MAP) on public attitudes towards policies intended to improve resource efficiency. The analysis is based on a detailed, representative survey and focus group data collected between 2016 and 2018. Significantly, the research shows that measures offering the biggest carbon savings, and over which the government has most control, are those that are most popular with the public. Here, we demonstrate how government and businesses can make the most of the opportunity offered by resource efficiency for household goods to improve material use and reduce emissions