How are climate change perceptions influenced by the economy and e... https://oecd-environment-focus.blog/2022/12/06/how-are-climate-cha...

Environment Focus

AN ENVIRONMENTAL LENS ON POLICIES FOR BETTER LIVES

How are climate change perceptions influenced by

the economy and extreme weather events?

Posted on December 6, 2022 by OECD Environment Focus

1 Comment

By: Kentaro Asai, Francesca Borgonovi and Sarah Wildi, OECD Centre for Skills

In the northern hemisphere, the last summer

was characterised by major climate disasters,
including heat waves, droughts, flooding, and
wildfires. The southern hemisphere is
preparing to face similar disruptions in the
coming months. Such events served as a
reminder that climate change is taking place
and that urgent action is required to transition
to a net-zero economy. Can the renewed
urgency for action on climate change continue
in the context of high energy prices and the
increasing cost of living?

Successfully implementing climate change mitigation policies both locally and internationally
requires an understanding of the extent to which individuals see climate change as a threat and
consider climate action a priority. Mobilising large-scale international support for climate action
requires on the one hand understanding how the public in different countries perceives climate
change and on the other what factors shape individuals’ a itudes towards climate change and the
environment more generally. Governments need to know how individuals understand and perceive
climate change in order to anticipate environmental behaviour and determine which policies (if any)
citizens would be prepared to support and how ambitious such policies could be.

The newly released OECD Working Paper uses data from the Wellcome Global Monitor 2020, the
European Social Survey (Round 8), World Values Survey, Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), as
well as industry-level CO2 emissions data from the International Monetary Fund and unemployment
data from the OECD to examine how public perceptions vary both within and across countries. The
study also details how individuals’ a itudes are associated with engagement in pro-environmental
behaviours and support for environmentally friendly policies.

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Mapping variations in attitudes to enhance

cooperation and identify the “weakest links”

Different countries and actors need to have a similar understanding of climate change and similar
threat perceptions to effectively coordinate and implement climate change policies. Yet in many
countries and across countries there is a polarisation of a itudes towards climate change, a
polarisation that threatens cooperation because vocal minorities who may not understand or
apprehend the importance of acting on climate change may halt effective policymaking and reform
initiatives.

On average, 84% of adults across OECD countries report that they understand climate change “fairly
well” or “very well”. Yet, self-reported understanding of climate change is varied across countries
with 94% of adults in Belgium reporting that they understand climate change “fairly well” or “very
well”, and 62% reporting the same in the Czech Republic. Variation between countries is even greater
with regards to threat perception. In Mexico and Italy, for instance, nearly 90% of adults regard
climate change as a major threat but only around 44% of adults report the same in the Czech
Republic. Such differences across countries in understanding of climate change and in threat
perception exemplifies why cooperation across countries can be so challenging.

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But important differences also exist within countries. In particular, individuals who obtained tertiary
level qualifications or who have a high income are more likely to report having a good understanding
of climate change and are more likely to perceive climate change to be a threat than individuals who
only completed secondary school, those who did not complete secondary school, and individuals on
low incomes. Marked differences in perceptions of climate change exist across different industries in
which individuals work in. Individuals who work in CO2-intensive industries are less likely to
support the implementation of pro-environmental policies, are less likely to report believing in
climate change, and are less worried about climate change than those working in the least CO2-
emi ing sectors. The study also finds that these differences do not simply reflect compositional
differences, such as, for example, differences in average levels of educational a ainment of workers
in different sectors. On average, tertiary-level educated individuals who work in the most CO2-
emi ing sectors may have lower levels of understanding of climate change and report being less
worried about climate change than individuals with the same education level who work in the least
CO2-emi ing sectors.

Perhaps unexpectedly, our results also reveal that within countries self-reported understandings of

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climate change and perceptions of the threat posed by climate change do not differ across age groups
and that women are only marginally more likely to perceive climate change as a threat than men and
only in some countries.

Unemployment levels shape how much the

environment is considered as a priority

As world leaders and environmental activists consider how best to mobilise support for
environmental action, the world has been shaken by extreme heat, wildfires, droughts and floods as
well as economic instability, disruption of global value chains, and increases in living and production
costs. Promoting inclusive green growth policies is possible and desirable, but requires careful policy
design. The type and design of climate policy strongly determine the level of support climate policies
receive. This is especially important because analyses suggest that when asked to prioritise either the
environment or the economy, individuals will be more likely to prioritise the economy at times of
adverse economic conditions, such as when levels of unemployment are high. The relevance of
unemployment levels over the extent to which individuals report being inclined to prioritise the
economy over the environment is higher among individuals with low levels of educational
a ainment and low incomes. They are in fact most likely to be penalised by negative economic
conditions. At the same time, all socio-economic groups report being less willing to prioritise the
environment over the economy at times of high unemployment, suggesting that the impact of
unemployment on the environment-economy debate is not limited only to those groups who are
most personally vulnerable to high levels of unemployment. By contrast, we find that individuals are
more likely to prioritise the environment over the economy when they have more extensive
experience with natural-hazard induced disasters and when these disasters have significant
humanitarian consequences. In times of high unemployment, green recovery policies, such as
investments in green infrastructure and subsidies for clean technologies that have been found to be
strongly supported across countries, can be effective tools of achieving the double objective of
accelerating economic growth and reducing emissions.

Significance for policy makers

The negative correlation between unemployment rate and pro-environmental a itudes across all
socio-economic groups but in particular those that are less educated and have lower incomes,
indicates that political division over climate change is not purely a question of ideology or
knowledge. Instead, political differences regarding climate change have a substantial economic
dimension pertaining to inequality in economic security and well-being. These findings imply that it
is important to implement economic and social policies to ensure that the green transition is a just
transition, if ambitious climate-change action is to be successfully implemented and supported in the
long term. The results reported in this work also suggest that, other things being equal, public
support for climate change mitigation policies tends to increase following climate-change related
disasters and to decrease during periods of high unemployment.

In 2008 and 2011, the OECD carried out large-scale household surveys on Environmental Policies and
Individual Behaviour Change (EPIC) to explore the drivers of household environmental behaviours

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and the extent to which public policies influence household decisions. The surveys also measured
public perceptions of climate change and other environmental issues. The OECD will soon release an
overview of results from the third round of the EPIC survey, which will benchmark public opinion
and engagement in environmental behaviours in the current economic, environmental and political
context. The survey covers four environmentally relevant areas, specifically energy use, food
consumption, mobility and waste practices. It will also generate insights regarding how best to
mobilise public support for climate change mitigation policies and to implement policy initiatives
that enable a just and inclusive green transition.

Further reading:

Understanding how economic conditions and natural disasters shape environmental a itudes. A cross-country
comparison to inform policy making h ps://doi.org/10.1787/8e880ea2-en

Fighting climate change: International a itudes toward climate policies. h ps://doi.org/10.1787/3406f29a-en

The OECD EPIC household survey: h ps://www.oecd.org/environment/households.htm

Category: Climate change, Economic impacts, Environment Tags: climate change perceptions,
climate policy, Disasters, extreme weather events, unemployment

One Comment on “How are climate change perceptions influenced

by the economy and extreme weather events?”

Seeker
April 25, 2023
This study very interesting and stimulating, and contributes to enriching the branch
of scientific literature related to personal beliefs and intimate motivations about
environmentally-related issues.
Probably, this research may be related to the concept of “environmental awareness”, i.e., a
mechanism that transforms awareness about climate-related issues into an enviromentally- or
sustainability-oriented economic action.

If interested, we might discuss in further detail here.

Reply

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