Perceptions Of Climate Change Research Articles

Firm-level climate change risk and adoption of ESG practices: a machine learning prediction

PurposeBy combining the notion of prospect theory with advanced machine learning algorithms, this study aims to predict whether financial institutions (FIs) adopt a reactive stance when they perceive climate change as a risk, consequently leading to the adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices to avoid this risk. Prospect theory assumes that decision-makers react quickly when decisions are framed as a risk or threat rather than as an opportunity.Design/methodology/approachWe used a sample of 168 FIs across 27 countries and seven regions over the period 2003–2020. To conduct our empirical investigation, we compared the prediction accuracy of various machine learning algorithms.FindingsOur findings suggest that out of 12 machine learning algorithms, AdaBoost, Gradient Boosting and XGBoost have the most precision in predicting whether FIs react to climate change risk in adopting ESG practices. This study also tested the overall climate change risk and risks associated with physical, opportunity and regulatory shocks of climate change. We observed that risks associated with physical and regulatory shocks significantly impact the adoption of ESG practices, supporting prospect theory predictions.Practical implicationsThe insights of this study provide important implications for policymakers. Specifically, policymakers must take into account the risk posed by climate change in the corporate decision-making process, as it directly influences a firm’s adoption of corporate actions (ESG practices).Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the firm-level climate change risk and adoption of ESG practices from a prospect theory perspective using novel machine learning algorithms.

Domestic water saving practices and their relationship with metering and the perception of climate change in Mexican households

Una de las consecuencias más importantes del cambio climático para México se relaciona con un menor acceso a cantidades y calidades de agua suficientes para los usos humanos y ambientales. El ahorro de agua doméstica se enmarca en dicho contexto como una medida de adaptación frente el cambio climático. El objetivo de este trabajo es explorar los factores que afectan el ahorro de agua en hogares mexicanos. Para ello, se utilizan datos de más de 13 mil hogares de la Encuesta Nacional de los Hogares (ENH) desarrollada en 2017, y del Módulo de Hogares y Medio Ambiente aplicado ese año con la ENH. A través de análisis de regresión se prueba el efecto de factores sociodemográficos (edad, sexo, nivel educativo y tamaño de localidad), de gestión (forma de cobro del servicio) y climáticos (percepción de cambios en temperatura, precipitación y fenómenos extremos) como predictores de prácticas de ahorro de agua en hogares urbanos y rurales. Los hallazgos apuntan a un efecto estadísticamente significativo y positivo del cobro del agua a través de micromedición; así como efectos significativos, pero menores, de la percepción de mayor temperatura, cambios en la lluvia, e impactos de fenómenos climáticos en el hogar, como factores relacionados positivamente con prácticas de ahorro de agua doméstica.

PERCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND THEIR DETERMINANTS AMONG THE SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN MACHAKOS COUNTY

Climate change is expected to affect the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Machakos County due to their overdependence on rain-fed agriculture. Farmers perception of climate change and variability influences their understanding and management of climate change-induced risks and uncertainties, especially in rain-fed agriculture. The study was carried out to evaluate smallholder farmers awareness and perception of climate change and the factors influencing the perception of climate change in Machakos County. Data was collected from 400 farmers from six locations sampled through a multistage and simple random sampling procedure. The Heckman probit model was fitted to the data to avoid sample selection bias since not every farmer who may perceive climate change responds by adapting. The analysis revealed that 96% of smallholder farmers in Machakos County were aware of climate change, 87.3% perceived that temperature was rising, and 96.8% perceived that rainfall was decreasing. In this regard, the age of the household head, Gender, education, household size, group membership, distance to the nearest input sellers, distance to the closest market access to insurance, land size, off-farm income, access to information on climate change, access to extension services, access to credit, changes in temperature and rainfall were found to have a significant influence on the probability of farmers to perceive and/or adapt to climate change.

Socio-economic determinants of climate change perception in the uMkhanyakude district of Kwazulu-Natal province, South Africa

Climate change is an emerging stressor that impacts negatively on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries. This study assessed the socio-economic determinants of climate change perception in the uMkhanyakude district in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Assessment of the determinants of climate change perception is imperative in the design for effective climate change communication and policy formulation at the country and regional level. A stratified random sampling procedure was used to collect data from a sample of 400 smallholder farmers. A binary logistic regression model was used to analyse the determinants of climate change perception. Descriptive statistics revealed that 95.5% of the sampled farmers perceived climate change in the study area. Farmers perceived long term increases in temperatures and a decrease in rainfall. The results of the binary logistic regression revealed that climate change perception is influenced by the age of the household head, adult equivalents in the household, land size, involvement in farmers’ organisations, access to irrigation, and level of education. Policies aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change should place an emphasis on dealing with drought, which has been a prominent phenomenon in the study area and in the Southern African region. In addition, it is recommended that government policies geared toward the support of extensive educational programmes should consider the determinants of climate change perception.

‘Mitigation is global, adaptation is local’: An assessment of the framing of climate change in Nigerian and South African newspapers

The economic impact of climate change, especially in Africa, is tremendous. As Africans battle with severe weather conditions like floods and droughts, their limited infrastructure is overstretched and, in most cases, cannot withstand the impact. The rains are flooding cities in Nigeria as drought ravages cities in South Africa. When events like these occur, people look to the media for information, and studies have shown that the media can influence public perception of climate change through the way they frame the issue. Using the issue-specific frames of mitigation and adaptation, this study analysed Nigerian and South African newspapers’ coverage of climate change. The study spanned 9 months (January-September 2018), and the online editions of The Punch, Leadership, Mail & Guardian and News Everyday were content-analysed quantitatively using tables and frequencies, and qualitatively, using verbatim quotes. A total of 90 stories were obtained from the four newspapers, with the straight news format as the most used story genre. The major sources of news stories on climate change were the reporters, followed by experts/private individuals. The adaptation frame was the most used, showing that the African media understands the need to mobilise citizens locally for a collective fight against climate change.

Local Responses to Climate Change Impact on Intangible Cultural Heritage in Poland

Tradition and intangible cultural heritage help local communities cope with the uncertainty through familiar and repetitive actions. What if it all depends on variable and unstable factors? This paper presents an anthropological approach to the impact of climate change on local practices towards intangible cultural heritage based on human-environment interactions. The author presents early results of an ongoing research project. By drawing on ethnographic data, this article explores the implications of declining snow resources, alterations in the vegetation cycle and hydrological drought on the traditions of winter horse-drawn carriage races, Corpus Christi flower carpets and wickerwork. Based on the notions of ethnoclimatology and anthropology of weather, the text draws attention to local perceptions of climate change and potential methods of safeguarding tradition in times of uncertainty. It serves as an outline of a possible way of thinking about the relationship between climate change and intangible cultural heritage.

Knowledge of Disaster Risk and Perceptions of Climate Change among College Students

Indonesia is on the path of the Pacific Ring of Fire so all regions in Indonesia are prone to disasters. The last ten years have also seen many disasters in several areas. The reason is climate change which has an impact on erratic weather. This study aims to determine the effect of knowledge of disaster risk on perceptions of climate change in college students. Quantitative research method with 101 student subjects. The measurement tools used are disaster risk knowledge and climate change perceptions. The results of the study show that there is a relationship between knowledge of disaster risk and perceptions of climate change among college students. The effective contribution shows 39.3%, meaning that disaster risk knowledge contributes 39.3% to climate change perceptions, and 69.7% is influenced by other factors. The results also show that students' knowledge of disaster risk is low and students' perceptions of climate change are negative. The results of this study are important as a basis for making interventions in the form of more effective and massive education for students about disaster risk.

Climate-health risk (In)visibility in the context of everyday humanitarian practice

Nongovernmental migrant shelters in Mexico play a key role in documenting the factors that shape forced migration from Central America. Existing intake protocols in shelters are largely oriented to humanitarian legal frameworks that determine eligibility for international protection based on interpersonal violence and political persecution. This qualitative study calls attention to how existing humanitarian logics may obscure climate- and health-related disruptions as drivers of forced migration from Central America in the context of everyday humanitarian practice. In May 2022 we compared migrant's responses (n = 40) to a standardized intake protocol at a nongovernmental humanitarian migrant shelter in Mexico with responses to semi-structured interviews that focused on migrants' perceptions of climate change and health as drivers of forced displacement. We found that slow- and rapid-onset climatic disruptions; illness and disease; and various forms of violence and repression are often interrelated drivers of forced displacement. Comparing intake protocols and in-depth interview responses, we found that climate- and health-related drivers of forced displacement are rarely documented. These findings speak to the importance of critically examining everyday humanitarian practices in the context of ongoing advocacy that calls for climate-related disruptions to be integrated into existing humanitarian protection frameworks.

Adaptation of Farmers in Bengawan Solo Watershed in Facing Climate Change

Currently, climate change poses a threat to agriculture, including in the Bengawan Solo watershed. This study aims to explore farmers' perceptions of climate change and understand the adaptations they undertake. The study was conducted in Mejuwet Village, Sumberrejo Subdistrict, Bojonegoro Regency, using qualitative. This study involved six informants, consisting of three farmers and three farm laborers. The selection of informants was based on the criterion of having more than ten years of experience in farming. Data was collected using in-depth interview and observation. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using an interactive model. The study indicates that farmers have knowledge of and can articulate the climate changes they have encountered, albeit with some limitations in understanding, and they actively participate in adaptation efforts. Farmer adaptation encompasses technical modifications like establishing planting schedules and methods, and choosing high-quality varieties. Cultural adaptation encompasses traditions like the wiwitan ceremony. Social adaptation involves using social connections and prioritizing investments in children's schooling. Lastly, economic adaptation involves broadening job opportunities and liquidating assets.

Survey of Potato Growers’ Perception of Climate Change and Its Impacts on Potato Production in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria

Survey of Potato Growers’ Perception of Climate Change and Its Impacts on Potato Production in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria

Probing Climate Change Perceptions in Vulnerable Enclaves: Resilient Realities in the Buffalo City Municipality, South Africa

Probing Climate Change Perceptions in Vulnerable Enclaves: Resilient Realities in the Buffalo City Municipality, South Africa

Testing an integrated model of climate change anxiety

Emerging studies have reported that people may experience anxiety when thinking about climate change. Although such an anxiety experience can be a rational response to climate change threats, it can still be a psychological burden to people's daily lives. In this research, we proposed an integrated model of climate change anxiety as a guiding framework to identify relevant psychological factors that predict climate change anxiety. According to this model, anxiety about climate change is related to experience, perception, and appraisal of climate change, processes that are underpinned by experiential, cognitive, and sociocultural factors. Furthermore, previous studies have operationalized climate change anxiety either by affect-based responses (i.e., anxiety-related feelings) or symptom-based responses (i.e., anxiety-related impairments), but it is unclear whether the two types of responses are conceptually and empirically similar or distinct. We thus examined how the three sets of factors relate to these responses and how they relate to outcome correlates simultaneously. We tested our framework in two pre-registered studies conducted in the US (Study 1) and China (Study 2). Both studies involved representative samples of US and Chinese adults regarding gender and age. Results of the partial least square-structural equation modeling revealed supporting evidence for the role of experiential, cognitive, and sociocultural factors, although some patterns were inconsistent with our pre-registered hypotheses. Importantly, we observed that the two types of climate change anxiety showed both similar and different correlation patterns with the predictors (e.g., efficacy beliefs, values) and outcome variables (e.g., pro-environmental behavior, life satisfaction). Our findings provide initial evidence for the usefulness of the integrated model as a guiding framework for understanding climate change anxiety and the need to differentiate different types of climate change anxiety responses.

Unraveling farmers' interrelated adaptation and mitigation adoption decisions under perceived climate change risks

Climate change poses a risk to agricultural activity. Understanding farmers' behaviors is increasingly important for managing climate risks and improving their adaptive capacity. This study aims to identify the key risk-related drivers influencing several adaptation and mitigation strategies by adopting various Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies to reduce climate change vulnerability. We investigate the interrelated nature of the adoption of CSA technologies related to soil fertility, soil conservation, agroforestry, agro-advisory apps, and alternative coffee farming practices. To explore the role of the perceived risks related to CSA technology adoption, we constructed an extended model that combines protection motivation theory, perceived farmers' adoption risks and social and demographic determinants. We collected empirical data from 519 coffee farmers in Costa Rica and analyzed the data through a multivariate probit technique. The analysis reveals how the influence of perceived climate risks severity, perceived vulnerability, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and perceived cost changes according to the CSA technology. As for the perceived adoption risks, we show that the adoption likelihood of CSA technologies focused on mitigation decreases with increasing perceived adoption risk. Other determinants, such as the number of coffee buyers and the farmers' membership in an organization, steer the adoption of soil fertility practices, agroforestry, and agro-advisory mobile apps. Main theoretical implications include the integration of the CSA adoption risk-related perceptions to the protection motivation theory, since it reflects on farmers' fear of potential losses or additional costs associated with implementing these practices. The finding gives a nuanced explanation of farmers' decisions under pressing climate change threats. Practical implications for increasing CSA adoption are that CSA promotion programs must consider that farmers see CSA technologies as interrelated in their adoption decisions, meaning that more fruitful synergies could be promoted by acknowledging the bundled adoption of multiple CSA technologies. Thus, promoting a mix of CSA technologies and practices is essential for achieving resilience while increasing productivity.

Perception of Climate Change Vulnerability and its Impact on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Khutiya and Banganga River Basins.

Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. The drivers of climate risk include its topography, ecological diversity, climatic variability, natural resource dependency, under-development, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities. Climate change affects women and girls in unique ways. Research conducted in Asia Pacific region highlight negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes from climate change-related stressors such as droughts, floods, and air pollution, factors also linked to decreased SRH services utilization, increased maternal mortality rates, and repercussions on women's mental health. This is a mixed methods study conducted in two river basins including household surveys with 384 females ages 18-49, 12 focus group discussions, and 22 key informant interviews. We conducted descriptive and thematic analysis. More than half relied on agriculture for income (66%). Despite one-third being heads of households, land ownership was low (13%). Climate change perceptions included rising temperatures (88%), increased heat wave (70%), drying water source (99%), and delayed monsoons (83%), impacting agriculture and increasing women's workload (61%) due to displacement and male migration. 64% reported disturbances in antenatal and postnatal care visits . Inaccessible healthcare facilities during the rainy season increased maternal mortality risks. Heavy river flooding hindered female community health volunteers access leading to childbirth complications. 82% of women feared being unable to protect their children post-climate events. Moreover, 21% of women faced gender-based violence during or after climate disasters. Our findings suggest clear impacts of climate change on women and the communities. Thus, climate adaptation efforts must be designed to address the unique impacts of the crisis on women and girls, making space for their increased participation and leadership.

Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Perceptions of Climate Change on the Environment and Livelihood of Local Communities in Kgalagadi District of Botswana

Extreme climate change causes an immeasurable threat to the livelihood security and prosperity of rural communities, including the natural environment and resources managed by the local people in the Kgalagadi District of Botswana. The study aims to understand the indigenous ecological knowledge of local communities about climate change, its impacts on the environment, and their livelihoods across five villages in the Kgalagadi District of Botswana. The present study used a semi-structured questionnaire survey at the household level who were randomly selected using the village register book. The results indicated that all the respondents in Kang village and some from Lehututu and Tshane villages perceived that the causes of climate change were unknown. However, some respondents across the other four villages believed that climate change is caused by various factors including wildfires, pollution from industries, impacts from livestock, and vehicles, as well as a curse from God. Indigenous knowledge must be well incorporated with scientific methods and up-to-date climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies to envisage more concrete results. This helps to integrate the insight of local people into policies and strategies to make an effort for solutions that are crucial for sustainable development. We suggest that all stakeholders should harmonise the use of indigenous knowledge with climate change strategies, to make the best use of its contribution to the successful execution of climate change policies.

Understanding of Connectivity and Interlinkages between Human Activities and Climate Change: Community Perspectives from Kenya

Purpose: This study was conducted in Nakuru County, Kenya and aimed at assessing the community knowledge of the complex interrelationship between individual and collective activities and climate change in Kenya. Specifically, we assessed the knowledge and perception of climate change, grassroot information flow on Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) and climate change, and local practices/activities taken towards mitigation/adaptation to climate change. Methodology: The study involved both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Data was collected using literature reviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Descriptive analysis was used to summarize data that were then presented as frequencies and percentages. Index construction was undertaken by summing up the scores for all statements relating to knowledge and perceptions to obtain a single group of variables. Chi-square tests were used to test relationship between variables. Findings: Eighty (80%) of the respondents indicated that climate change is real, 69% of which attributed it to human activities, majorly (52%), clearance of vegetation. Most of the respondents (63%) had no idea about any climate change policy in the county while barely half (48%) could identify at least 1 greenhouse gas. This points to a gap in knowledge transmission from the national/County to the community and perhaps lack of sufficient community involvement in policy making. It was further established that there was a disconnect in information flow from scientific sources to communities that most respondents (63%) obtained climate information from community groups while only 2% relied on scientific sources, which would provide accurate information. this implies that the respondents may not be employing climate change mitigation strategies in their everyday interventions. Gender and education had significant influence on awareness and attitude towards climate change. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: These results suggest the need to shape community’s attitudes/perceptions about climate change by sharing accurate information through flexible channels and community involvement in formulation and implementation of climate change policies.

Understanding the role of hope in climate change risk perception: a cross-sectional study

Italy is experiencing the negative effects of climate change, which is causing considerable damage. Evidence of the damage is increasing citizens’ concern about climate change. According to many researchers, investigating the factors that drive and shape risk perception of climate change is of paramount importance to predicting public willingness to help combat it. Recently, the Climate Change Risk Perception model (CCRPM) was validated, showing its efficacy. However, the CCRPM does not consider some psychological variables related to people’s confidence that climate change can be mitigated. The purpose of the present study is to replicate CCRPM in the Italian context and to shed light on whether the addition of the Climate Change Hope variable can improve the explanatory power of this model. Results indicate that the CCRPM explains 49% of the variance of climate change risk perception and the addition of Climate Change Hope improves the model. Knowledge of impacts of climate change, social norms, value orientations, affect, and personal experience with extreme weather events were all identified as significant predictors. Affective and social norms factors explained significantly more variance in risk perception than other variables. These results suggest that climate change risk perception is a complex and multidimensional construct and that risk communicators should take an integrative approach by stimulating citizens’ affective and experiential processing mechanisms.

Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Perceptions of Climate Change on the Environment and Livelihood of Local Communities in Kgalagadi District of Botswana

Extreme climate change causes an immeasurable threat to the livelihood security and prosperity of rural communities, including the natural environment and resources managed by the local people in the Kgalagadi District of Botswana. The study aims to understand the indigenous ecological knowledge of local communities about climate change, its impacts on the environment, and their livelihoods across five villages in the Kgalagadi District of Botswana. The present study used a semi-structured questionnaire survey at the household level who were randomly selected using the village register book. The results indicated that all the respondents in Kang village and some from Lehututu and Tshane villages perceived that the causes of climate change were unknown. However, some respondents across the other four villages believed that climate change is caused by various factors including wildfires, pollution from industries, impacts from livestock, and vehicles, as well as a curse from God. Indigenous knowledge must be well incorporated with scientific methods and up-to-date climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies to envisage more concrete results. This helps to integrate the insight of local people into policies and strategies to make an effort for solutions that are crucial for sustainable development. We suggest that all stakeholders should harmonise the use of indigenous knowledge with climate change strategies, to make the best use of its contribution to the successful execution of climate change policies.

General knowledge and perception of climate change in undergraduate medical students

Objective: Climate change impacts public health, however, for its level of implication it is a topic little discussed within the training of health personnel, so the purpose of this study was to assess the awareness and perception of medical students on climate change and its impact. Method: A qualitative, cross-sectional and descriptive research method was used and a survey was designed to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The sample was defined under the non-probabilistic strategy by convenience with a total of 112 students of the Bachelor's Degree in Surgeon and Midwife, from the first to the eighth semester in universities corresponding to the metropolitan area of Guadalajara. Analysis: Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis and public health frameworks. Results: One hundred and ten students from the sample completed the survey. A bias was identified in the general knowledge of what climate change implies and misinformation regarding the extent of its effects on the health and daily life of individuals, at the same time a predominant feeling of concern was identified in relation to its consequences. Conclusion: There is a deficiency of information on climate change among undergraduate medical students. Climate change is a global reality. The world needs to work collectively on this issue and education is the first critical step that requires the attention of health professionals.

Exploring perceptions towards biodiversity conservation in urban parks: Insights on acceptability and design attributes.

Green infrastructure has emerged as an opportunity to balance sociocultural and ecological benefits, alongside the potential for biodiversity conservation in cities. However, key design challenges that remain unsolved including 1) how to effectively balance biodiversity conservation and sociocultural benefits, and 2) how user's perception and knowledge may affect the acceptance of conservation interventions in parks. In this study, we used a mixed methods approach in which focus groups were used to explore users' perceptions of landscape attributes, their benefits, biodiversity, climate change, and conservation interventions in parks. This was followed by face-to-face interviews with the broader general public to quantitatively assess perceptions and acceptability for conservation interventions in parks. While plant density and functional diversity were identified as key landscape attributes, trade-offs may occur with other attributes such as multi-functionality and the order of the vegetation. Most conservation interventions had high acceptance levels, where the decrease of grass in parks was the most controversial attribute. All interventions were correlated with the importance of landscape attributes and climate change concerns, but poorly associated with knowledge of native biodiversity. The results support 1) increasing the functional diversity of plants in parks as a way to balance environmental and sociocultural benefits and promote the acceptability of conservation interventions, however such an increase should be linked to designs that respect notions of order and other park uses, and 2) environmental education based on climate change may be the key to improving acceptability of these initiatives.