Abstract
This paper reports on the barriers that members of the UK public perceive to engaging with climate change. It draws upon three mixed-method studies, with an emphasis on the qualitative data which offer an in-depth insight into how people make sense of climate change. The paper defines engagement as an individual's state, comprising three elements: cognitive, affective and behavioural. A number of common barriers emerge from the three studies, which operate broadly at 'individual' and 'social' levels. These major constraints to individual engagement with climate change have implications for achieving significant reductions in greenhouse gases in the UK. We argue that targeted and tailored information provision should be supported by wider structural change to enable citizens and communities to reduce their carbon dependency. Policy implications for effective engagement are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 445-459 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Global Environmental Change |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2007 |
Funding
The Norwich study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Norwich and Rome study was supported by the ESRC and the Natural and Environment Research Council. The South of England study was funded by a Research Studentship award from the University of Bath. We would like to acknowledge the equal contribution from all the authors to this paper. Thanks go to Tim O’Riordan and Jacky Pett for valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper. The views expressed are the authors’ alone who take responsibility for this version.
Keywords
- Barriers
- Behaviour
- Climate change
- Engagement
- Mitigation
- Public perceptions
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Global and Planetary Change
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Ecology
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
