To date most research on climate change has focused on the science of possible impacts and the formulation of international policy responses. In comparison, relatively few studies have considered the social mechanisms and processes by which adaptation to and mitigation of climate change could occur. This suggests a need for a more systematic analysis of behavioural and decision-making responses to climatic stresses. Furthermore, the possible interactions between adaptation and mitigation are little understood but may be particularly important for effective responses.
This study considers how individuals respond to climate change by undertaking two case studies on Canada’s west coast, and analyses observed perceptions and behaviour in relation to adaptation and mitigation as conceptualised in climate literature. Using an interdisciplinary approach and multiple methods, it examines the motivations of individuals to adapt and mitigate, and identifies and analyses the factors, forces, and actors which shape people’s perception of climate change. Data from interviews, a Q sort, and focus groups with selective and purposive participants are analysed using an approach informed by psychology, political science, and climate research.
This research finds that individuals do not think about climate change in terms of adaptation and mitigation. Both autonomous mitigation, and planned and reactive adaptation occur in response to perceptions of climate change and collective benefits, in context with other non-climatic local and global issues. Participants feel a responsibility for their incremental contributions to climate change which they describe as a civic duty that is owed to those currently affected by impacts and to future generations. This responsibility matches what has been described as ecological citizenship. Adaptation and mitigation are related in three ways; through the responsibility felt by individuals; because individuals do not consider them separately; and within informal networks of local groups that address issues related to both adaptation and mitigation. This suggests that with respect to individuals, climate literature narrowly defines and falsely dichotomises responses to climate change into adaptation and mitigation. Individuals’ actions and underlying attitudes are concerned with local development in a global context and consider climate change as only one challenge to achieving a sustainable human society.