Barriers to the Adoption of Pro-environmental Behaviour
Why do pro-environmental attitudes not consistently lead to “green behaviour”? Research has revealed several barriers associated with the gap between pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour.5,22 These barriers are organized into two broad categories: structural and psychological barriers. While structural barriers, such as poverty, financial constraints, and lack of leadership, may be overcome with policy and infrastructure improvement, psychological barriers have traditionally been more challenging to capture and address through behavioural intervention strategies.5,23 Some examples of psychological obstacles with significant relevance to climate action and adaption include:
- Prioritization of immediate risks: climate change is commonly perceived as a distant and abstract threat in both the temporal and spatial sense.24
- Lack of perceived control and helplessness over outcomes: little action is taken when an individual does not believe in its effectiveness.2,24
- Ignorance and unawareness: there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the realities and severity of climate change.24
- Denial of personal responsibility and shifting of blame.25
- Impracticality: there is significant reluctance to make lifestyle changes and expend time, finances, and resources.25
Not only has overcoming these barriers presented a challenge to scientists and policy-makers, but defining them has also been met with difficulty.5 This is due in part to their interrelated nature, which prevents them from being examined in isolation. Consequently, it is necessary to understand the interdependencies between barriers in order to explain their origin, development, and persistence, which all contribute to informing intervention strategies.23 Furthermore, hindrances to climate action and adaptation are dynamic; they are often caused by various underlying factors, including historical events, a wide range of stakeholders, the socioeconomic environment, and the political landscape.23 In addition, barriers to climate-relevant behaviour are context-specific, further amplified among rural communities that are commonly diverse from one another. Lastly, descriptive research has typically identified barriers, meaning that their origins have not been adequately defined.
Looking forward, additional research, case studies, and meta-analyses are needed to understand the proposed barriers more explicitly and generate systematic explanations for their occurrence.23 This will require an integrated approach that uses systems-based thinking to establish a clear grasp of the underlying causes of barriers that would offer entry points for reducing or overcoming them.23 Ultimately, explanatory research on these barriers will inform policy, social programs, and infrastructure development to address structural barriers. This will also play a pivotal role in generating novel behaviour-change strategies to address the psychological barriers of climate change action and adaptation.
Dr. Alan Ruddiman shares his perspectives on why we have not seen more widespread climate action, and the processes of grief that people go through during times of environmental change (4:17)
Research should take an integrated approach, using systems-based thinking, to establish a clear understanding of causes of barriers to the adoption of pro-environmental behaviour
Blaine Grinder discusses the importance of co-decision making, helping one another, and being honest about your positionality (1:22)
