Climate Change? No, Wise Resource Use is the Issue: Social Representations of Energy, Climate Change and the Future

Abstract

Recent social scientific research has often dealt with public perceptions of climate change as an isolated topic. In contrast, we explored through qualitative interviews (n = 202) across five European countries how members of the public conceptualized climate change within a wider context of energy and the future, drawing on social representation theory.Our analysis suggests that, rather than separating between environmental issues, participants interpreted both climate change and energy consumption in a context of unsustainable resource use. Views on climate change were often very sceptical, but the unsustainability of contemporary resource use was almost unanimously of great concern. However, despite their strong plea for political change towards sustainability, many interviewees found it challenging to translate their views into behaviour. We argue that obstacles for behavioural change might lie in the tensions between cognitive, normative and affective aspects of people's representations, and conclude with recommendations for European climate change mitigation policies.

Emotions predict policy support: Why it matters how people feel about climate change

“…There is a level of complexity in emotional responses that cannot be captured without looking in detail at the triggers for these emotions, the objects that cause these emotions to arise. Perhaps the most extensive qualitative work on climate change emotions was conducted by Fischer et al (2012), who interviewed residents in five European nations, studying social representations of energy production and consumption. They found that affective responses to climate change were a recurrent theme.…”

“…They found that affective responses to climate change were a recurrent theme. The most common emotions were concern and worry, used interchangeably, and motivated by anticipated harm to children and grandchildren (Fischer et al 2012). Other emotions, such as confusion, resignation, and powerlessness, were mentioned alongside perceptions of low individual efficacy.…”

Exploring social representations of adapting to climate change using topic modeling and Bayesian networks

“…The BN highlights a view of SRs that integrates meanings (including those beyond the focus of climate change), emotions, and actions, a view consistent with recent empirical results (Lorenzoni et al 2007, Whitmarsh 2009, Fischer et al 2012) and theory (Gifford 2011. From this perspective people make sense of the world through broad, shared, and interconnected networks of meaning, emotion, and action, not via narrowly defined, single-issue themes, attitudes, or behaviors.…”

Public Perceptions and Support of Renewable Energy in North America in the Context of Global Climate Change

“…Second, and more importantly, James Hansen gave testimony before Congress that CC had been observed and that it was anthropogenic (Read et al 1994). Overall, the existing body of research and the surveys performed support the argument that the American public is aware of CC, believes that it is real, and is highly concerned about it (Whitmarsh et al 2011;Wolf and Moser 2011;Fischer et al 2012). In many cases, however, CC is still considered a low priority in the context of other societal issues.…”