The Impact of Economic And National Identity Loss Messages, And The Moderating Effect of Political Orientation, On Climate Change Policy Support

As climate change continues to be politically divisive, developing communications that align with right-leaning beliefs may increase bipartisan support for climate policy. In two experimental studies (Study 1, Australia, N = 558; Study 2, United States, N = 859), we tested whether an economic loss or national identity loss message would elicit greater support for mitigation and adaptation policies when compared to one another and to a control message. We also tested whether the direct effects of these message types were conditional on political orientation (specifically, identifying as politically right-leaning). In both studies, preliminary analyses indicated that the message manipulations were effective and that there was a high level of support for both types of climate policy. When compared to left-wing adherents, those who were politically right-leaning were less likely to support mitigation and adaptation policies in either sample. Australian (Study 1) identification – although not American identity (Study 2) – also uniquely predicted adaptation support (but not mitigation support). Yet, there were no significant message frame or interaction effects in the Australian (Study 1) or U.S. sample (Study 2). This suggests that neither an economic loss nor national identity loss message frame may be effective in overcoming the political polarization of climate change in Australia or the United States. Nevertheless, national identity could still play a useful role in Australian climate communications given its positive relationship to adaptation policy support, and therefore warrants further investigation.

The Indigenous Roles of Women in Household Food Security in Limpopo Province

The chapter describes women's roles in home-gardening to ensure household food security in a rural community in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Focus group discussions confirmed the women continue to produce indigenous crops as part of their cultural obligations to provide for household food security. This implies that the women are capable of maintaining the health and welfare of their households by ensuring food availability, accessibility, and utilization, which are important elements of food security. The study has implications for ending hunger and malnutrition as food is produced and preserved for future consumption. The food and preservation practices adopted by the women in the study could be incorporated into climate change mitigation and adaptation policies to address the challenge of poverty and malnutrition as per the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 2.

Perception and Attitude Changes of Stakeholders for Resilient City Policy by Online Deliberation

The aim of this study is to clarify the stakeholders' perceptions and attitudes of climate change adaptation in disaster prevention, which is one of the essential factors to make cities resilient, with the expert knowledge and discussion with each other participant via online deliberative experiment. We set up online virtual communities consisting of stakeholders living in disaster-stricken cities and towns who are expected to have a certain stake in this issue, and conducted a deliberation within the communities for 14 days on resilient city policy focusing on climate change adaptation in disaster prevention with the relevant knowledge from experts. We then analyzed changes of the perceptions and attitudes of the participants using the utterances (text data on the message boards) and the questionnaire data of before and after deliberation. The main results are as follows; (i) during the deliberation, a wide range of topics were discussed and converged to policy options over time, (ii) the self-help measures were got understanding of the participants though transformative measures including evacuation for a long time faced negative responses. almost none of the adaptation policies received greater opposition after deliberations than before, participants gained, through discussion, a deeper understanding of measures they themselves could implement (self-help) especially, (iii) perceived effectiveness of adaptation policies have been improved after deliberation, though, cost-benefit evaluation for transformative measures was remarkably lower after deliberation, that is, they will be difficult to implement. Therefore, we need to provide expert knowledge which can make people change their framing.

An Approach Concerning Climate Change and Timber Building Resilience: Araucanía Region, South Chile

This study analysed climate change effects concerning the resilience of timber buildings located in southern Chile, specifically in two cities: Collipulli and Temuco (Araucanía Region). A digital fuzzy logic method was used in a set of timber buildings declared as heritage conservation buildings by Chilean Government standards. The outcomes revealed that climate change impacts did not substantially alter the functional performance of the set of heritage timber buildings examined. This study’s results can assist in developing upcoming strategies or recommendations that can support adaptation policies for administering architectural heritage regarding climate change forecasts. These data will invaluably help stakeholders who support the conservation of timber structures located in the southern environment of Chile and under the changing climatic hazard.

Determination of farmers’ willingness to pay for drought adaptation policies in Şanlıurfa, Turkey

In Şanlıurfa, Turkey, agriculture is the most important source of income. This study aimed to determine Şanlıurfa farmers’ willingness to pay for drought adaptation policies and the factors affecting their willingness. The data were obtained from face-to-face surveys with farmers, selected using a simple random sampling method. According to the results, 50.26% perceive a risk of drought, and 35.86% are willing to pay for adaptation policies. Among those willing to pay, the average amount was 22.63 $/ha (1$=5.676 Turkish Lira), while the average for all participants was 13.55 $/ha. This adds up to a total of 14.363 million $/year for Şanlıurfa. This amount is 1.47% of the annual average income of the participants and is thus within their ability to pay. Age, amount of land farmed, education level, experience, and income were factors affecting willingness to pay. Many respondents, however, were unaware of drought adaptation policies. Because there is concern that drought risk is increasing, awareness needs to be increased, for example through extension services. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind, and the results may be useful for creating and applying drought adaptation policies in both Turkey and other regions with similar socio-economic characteristics.