Nature Climate Change (2012)
Promoting pro-environmental action in climate change deniers
Paul G. Bain, et al
doi:10.1038/nclimate1532
Received03 October 2011 Accepted 16 April 2012 Published online 17 June
2012
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1532.html#auth-1
A sizeable (and growing) proportion of the public in Western democracies
deny the existence of anthropogenic climate change1, 2. It is commonly
assumed that convincing deniers that climate change is real is necessary
for them to act pro-environmentally3, 4. However, the likelihood of
conversion using scientific evidence is limited because these attitudes
increasingly reflect ideological positions5, 6. An alternative approach is
to identify outcomes of mitigation efforts that deniers find important.
People have strong interests in the welfare of their society, so deniers
may act in ways supporting mitigation efforts where they believe these
efforts will have positive societal effects. In Study 1, climate change
deniers (N=155) intended to act more pro-environmentally where they
thought climate change action would create a society where people are more
considerate and caring, and where there is greater economic/technological
development. Study 2 (N=347) replicated this experimentally, showing that
framing climate change action as increasing consideration for others, or
improving economic/technological development, led to greater
pro-environmental action intentions than a frame emphasizing avoiding the
risks of climate change. To motivate deniers pro-environmental actions,
communication should focus on how mitigation efforts can promote a better
society, rather than focusing on the reality of climate change and
averting its risks.
|