title: Does belief matter in climate change action?
abstract: We studied environmental action and its predictors in a multi-scalar context of climate change politics. We asked how belief in climate change, post-materialist values, trust and knowledge predict people's engagement in environmental action by testing two alternative structural equation models (SEM). In one of these models all these factors directly predicted climate-friendly action, and in the other the effect of political trust, post-materialist values and climate change knowledge on climate-friendly action was mediated by belief in climate change. The models were tested with Eurobarometer 69.2 survey data of adult people living in Finland (N = 1,004). The SEM revealed that belief in climate change mediates the effect of post-material values, trust and knowledge on climate-friendly action. It is therefore important to recognize the role of belief in the public understanding of large-scale environmental problems. These results help political authorities to develop policies to encourage people's engagement in climate-friendly action.
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Annukka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vainio
authors.forename: Riikka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paloniemi
keywords: Finland; belief; climate change; environmental action; knowledge; post-materialism; trust