Intention of coastal communities to support climate change mitigation policies for fish and marine ecosystem preservation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to assess the willingness of individuals living in coastal communities affected by climate change to financially support mitigation policies towards the preservation of marine ecosystems and fish resources and to identify the key drivers of their behaviour. Design/methodology/approach A survey was carried out involving 994 people living in three main Italian coastal communities. To investigate the main factors affecting Italian coastal communities’ willingness to pay (WTP) to support climate change mitigation measures to protect the marine ecosystem and fishery resources, a Tobit regression model was implemented. Findings The results show that these communities are likely to pay to safeguard fish resources and the marine ecosystem, owing to their social and economic importance for these communities. In particular, this study’s findings highlight that the individuals’ attitudes towards climate change, social pressures and their perception of the phenomenon play a significant role on their intention to support mitigation policies. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that the communities most threatened by the negative effects of climate change are more willing to contribute financially to protect fish resources and the marine ecosystem. Research limitations/implications A limitation is related to the adopted methodology. In particular individuals’ intention to adopt pro-environmental behaviours does not always translate into real WTP through additional taxes. Originality/value The value of the research stems from its unique collective cross-communal comparison of attitudes and intentions, its parallel identification of behavioural drivers at the individual level and its prescriptive conclusions of both scholarly and practical worth.

Climate change and pro-environmental behaviours: the significant environmental challenges of livelihoods

“…In sport, Wicker and Thormann (2021) suggest the development of well-being through proenvironmental actions. In the Italian coastal communities, the individuals' attitudes towards climate change, social pressures and perception have a significant role in developing their intention to support mitigation policies (Galati et al, 2021). Among higher education institutes of Portugal, an online survey by Correia et al (2021) claims no significant effect of students' knowledge and environmental attitude on their pro-environmental intentions (PEIs).…”

“…In sport, Wicker and Thormann (2021) suggest the development of well-being through pro-environmental actions. In the Italian coastal communities, the individuals' attitudes towards climate change, social pressures and perception have a significant role in developing their intention to support mitigation policies (Galati et al. , 2021).…”

From Psychological Distance to Place Affinity: How People Perceive and React to the Location of Climate Change Impacts

“…In order to help people better imagine this future, it may therefore be beneficial to communicate specifically about local or national climate impacts. Evidence suggests that such scenarios wherein, for example, sea level rise is modelled and communicated to coastal communities, may lead to higher acceptance of mitigation measures (Degeling & Koolen, 2021;Galati et al, 2021). Similar strategies in communication about specific places -even if they are not people's own communities -might help increase affinity for places impacted currently or in the immediate future, which the close-ended questionnaire data indicated to be linked to concern.…”