Abstract
Climate change threatens the quality life of human communities and the balance of the planet’s ecosystems. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities are growing constantly, contributing to earth heating above 1C since pre-industrial age and the manifestation of extreme natural events. As a response, city councils around the world declare the climate emergency and are committed to action plans to reach zero net emissions. To study the impact of risk perception of climate change on the acceptance and engagement of local communities to these initiatives, we conducted a survey addressed to the population of Sant Cugat del Valles, a middle size town in Catalonia that declared the Climate Emergency. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the emotions of concern or anxiety about climate change and the perception of personal responsibility to take action are associated with higher support for the Action Plan. However, more people remain indecisive if they are called to participate actively in the planned actions whereas mistrust to local authorities is shown to undermine the confidence of the population on the completion of the goals. Instead, the respondents trust mostly the experts on receiving information about climate change. Another alarming evidence was the almost null participation of young people in the survey, despite being open to all population ages over 16. The implication of these results on the communication strategy of the local government are discussed.
Presenters
Rachil KoumproglouEducator, Scientific communication, International University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Technical, Political, and Social Responses
KEYWORDS
DECLARATION, EMERGENCY, CITIZEN, ENGAGEMENT, COUNCIL
