How are coastal households responding to climate change?

Abstract

In Australia, shared responsibility is a concept advocated to promote collective climate change adaptation by multiple actors and institutions. However, a shared response is often promoted in the absence of information regarding actions currently taken; in particular, there is limited knowledge regarding action occurring at the household scale. To address this gap, we examine household actions taken to address climate change and associated hazards in two Australian coastal communities. Mixed methods research is conducted to answer three questions: (1) what actions are currently taken (mitigation, actions to lobby for change or adaptation to climate impacts)? (2) why are these actions taken (e.g. are they consistent with capacity, experience, perceptions of risk); and (3) what are the implications for adaptation? We find that households are predominantly mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and that impact orientated adaptive actions are limited. Coping strategies are considered sufficient to mange climate risks, proving a disincentive for additional adaptive action. Influencing factors differ, but generally, risk perception and climate change belief are associated with action. However, the likelihood of more action is a function of homeownership and a tendency to plan ahead. Addressing factors that support or constrain household adaptive decision-making and action, from the physical (e.g. homeownership) to the social (e.g. skills in planning and a culture of adapting to change) will be critical in increasing household participation in adaptation.

Factors that Influence Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Action: A Household Study in the Nuevo Leon Region, Mexico

“…This lack of studies across all regions of the world is a matter of concern, as factors that influence action are based on local contextualities [4]. There is also a paucity of literature on the factors that influence household-level action [5]. This gap is critical, since not only does household behavior drive climate change, with households being responsible for two thirds of GHG emissions [6], they are also greatly affected by it [7,8].…”

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“…This study furthers researchers' understanding of how to measure Americans' willingness to engage in climate change adaptation behaviors and to support adaptation policies. Research to date on adaptation behavior and policy support has measured responses using wording that either relates the behavior or policy directly to climate change (Brügger et al, 2016;Elrick-Barr et al, 2016), or to discrete impacts such as flooding (Koerth et al, 2013;Valois et al, 2020), but has not directly compared how people respond to these different terms. Our study shows that asking about climate change, versus extreme weather, prompted different responses on questions about support for the same adaptation behaviors and policies.…”

The Level of Climate Change Awareness among Citizens of Bitung City, Indonesia

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