Abstract
Household-level mitigation and adaptation actions are important because households make a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and are severely affected by climate change. However, there is still very little understanding of the factors that influence household-level mitigation and adaptation action. From a review of literature, we identified the factors that potentially influence climate mitigation and adaptation actions of households, which we then tested using survey data from 622 households in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Nuevo Leon is a major emitter of greenhouse gasses and is a state where climate-related disasters are recurrent and expected to increase in frequency and severity. Results from ordinal regression analyses showed that perceived knowledge and financial self-efficacy greatly influenced the extent of household-level action taken. To a lesser extent, the age and educational level of the respondent also affected action. Respondents pointed out the need to know about different aspects of climate change. An implication of our study is the value of recognizing the importance of perceptions, as mitigation and adaptation actions are shaped by perceptions of climate change alongside socio-demographic characteristics. This may have significant implications for policies and campaigns promoting household-level action to increase resilience to climate change.
Highlights
Climate change is creating challenges for society and the environment
We showed that apart from socio-demographic factors, perceptions are more prominent in influencing climate change action among households
We showed that perceived knowledge and financial self-efficacy are most important
Summary
Climate change is creating challenges for society and the environment. Increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have already affected typical climatic conditions and the magnitude and frequency of climatic events. Policy-makers need to encourage the reduction of GHG emissions and stimulate adaptation to reduce vulnerability to climate change. The scientific community and policy-makers have emphasized the research, design, and implementation of mitigation measures over adaptation strategies [2,3]. There has been a shift toward a more balanced approach between mitigation and adaptation in climate research during the last decade or so. Given many challenges at varying spatial and temporal scales, a variety of approaches is necessary to reduce and manage risks [1,3]. To support the planning and implementation of climate-resilient measures for sustainable development, understanding the factors that influence mitigation and adaptation actions has emerged as a crucial part of climate change research
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