Heterogeneity in climate change beliefs across New Zealand’s rural sector

Autor: Sabrina Swerdloff, Dennis Wesselbaum, Philip Stahlmann-Brown
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Ecology and Society, Vol 28, Iss 4, p 10 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1708-3087
DOI: 10.5751/ES-14382-280410
Popis: In this paper we present novel evidence about heterogeneity in climate beliefs using a large-scale survey of farmers, foresters, growers, and lifestyle block owners in New Zealand. Using a flexible, conditional-moments approach, we estimate the interpersonal dispersion in climate change beliefs conditional on individual characteristics, which provides a direct measure of the heterogeneity in beliefs about climate change. Our results show that women, younger respondents, farmers with less family farming history, higher educated respondents, and those respondents who are less trusting in social media are more likely to believe in climate change. Further, beliefs are more heterogeneous among males (young and old), the less educated, and those who trust social media. Our results offer new insights allowing governments and NGOs to design and communicate policies to reduce the heterogeneity in climate change beliefs, which should support the uptake of climate change actions.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals