Norwegian mayoral awareness of and attitudes towards climate change

Abstract

The willingness of local politicians to implement measures for curbing greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to emerging conditions is essential for successful climate change policies. This article reports findings from a survey of attitudes amongst Norwegian mayors, who prove to be fairly well informed about, and have confidence in, the climate change message. They think that Norway should do more to curb emissions, and that the municipal level should have a stronger role in policy design, but the central government should pay the costs. Most mayors favour a reduction in car driving, but have mixed opinions about jobs and environmental concerns, potentially causing tensions in policy-making. Mayors with an environmental education, representing left-wing parties, and from central rather than peripheral areas contribute to a more supportive attitude towards climate change policies.

The role of learning and knowledge in adapting to climate change: a case study of Norwegian municipalities

“…In this region of Norway, mayors generally are most supportive of the official climate change message and most concerned about environmental challenges [16]. In addition, mayors in central municipalities also express stronger support for research as a source of information, and rely more on officers in the municipal administration that are responsible for environmental issues [37].…”

“…In some municipalities, most officers are highly specialised and professionalised, whereas in others there are more generalists. In addition, the municipalities differ in affluence and are part of the national capital, which in recent decades has experienced rapid population growth compared to peripheral municipalities.In this region of Norway, mayors generally are most supportive of the official climate change message and most concerned about environmental challenges [16]. In addition, mayors in central municipalities also express stronger support for research as a source of information, and rely more on officers in the municipal administration that are responsible for environmental issues [37].…”

“…A number of studies concern the role of knowledge in climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as trying to answer these questions. These studies examine knowledge and learning as such [2][3][4]; conditions for learning and knowledge [5][6][7]; the transfer of (scientific) knowledge to users [8][9][10][11][12][13]; interaction between knowledge and politics and power [14][15][16][17][18]; and knowledge and learning within the frames of organisational structures [19]; and some studies cover several of these issues [20,21]. Although many of these studies draw attention to other factors than learning and (scientific) knowledge, most recognise the dimension of learning and knowledge.…”

The sea is rising… but not onto the policy agenda: A multiple streams approach to understanding sea level rise policies

“…There is a lack of research from both an international and US perspective that specifically examines the perceptions of SLR held by legislative decision makers at any level of government. Some notable exceptions are studies of Swedish politicians (Hjerpe et al, 2014;Sundblad et al, 2009) and Norwegian mayors (Orderu and Kelman, 2011). Brody et al (2010) studied the perceptions of state and local officials regarding climate change, but did not include state legislators.…”

On working relations with the citizen

“…Hardin 1968), rational choice theory is here used to frame the human as an actor that makes calculated and informed -'rational' -choices that will maximize its benefits (Jaeger et al 2001, 23). That people express that they understand the necessity of acting upon climate change, but do not change their behaviour accordingly, is moreover taken to represent a gap between the values people hold and the actions they take (Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002;Lorenzoni, Nicholson-Cole, and Whitmarsh 2007;Whitmarsh 2009;Orderud and Kelman 2011;Whitmarsh, Seyfang, and O'Neil 2011;Brulle, Carmichael, and Jenkins 2012;Scruggs and Benegal 2012). Which in turn has led scholars to suggest that people suffer from 'cognitive dissonance', a term that was introduced by psychologists in the late 1950s and later developed in social psychology to explain discrepancies between what we know and what we do (Festinger, Riecken, andSchachter 2008 [1956] ;Festinger 1957;Stoll-Kleemann, O'Riordan, and Jaeger 2001;Latour 2011).…”