Community engagement initiative amid climate change crisis: Empirical evidence from a survey across Bangkok Metropolis of Thailand

Abstract

According to the Paris Agreement on climate change regulations and Sustainable Development Goal 13, Low Carbon City, a community-based action, shall be widely used to encourage the transformation of cities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from daily life. However, the concept of Low Carbon City requires community engagement from inhabitants, but building community engagement remains a considerable challenge, especially in low- to middle-income countries worldwide. Bangkok is one of the megacities vulnerable to climate change. This study focuses on analyzing the factors affecting the community engagement initiative to transform Bangkok into a low-carbon city. The study used a quantitative research technique with a sample size of 2000. The results reveal that 11 factors influence the success of the community engagement initiative in the transition to a low-carbon city. These critical factors include the salience on climate change, experience with climate change threats, significance of climate change, response of government officers to climate change, negative or positive emotion toward climate change, trust in the community and the municipal administration, and community affiliation, solidarity, and participation. Additionally, based on the stepwise multiple regression, statistical models were proposed to explain how the critical factors affecting community engagement transform Bangkok into a low-carbon city.