Individual motivation to act against climate change outweighs the impact of hyperlocal collective intentions, though both approaches are worth strengthening, according to a survey of nine European neighborhoods published Nov. 20, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Christian A. Klöckner from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and colleagues.

Western society contests the individual versus collective responsibility to combat climate change. But do people feel more motivated to act individually (e.g., making waste-free purchasing choices) or in tandem with others (e.g., protesting or completing workplace waste reduction challenges)? Klöckner and his colleagues investigated why citizens take pro-climate action in a hyperlocal, understudied environment: the neighborhood.

They surveyed 1,084 residents of nine European neighborhoods during the summers of 2022 and 2023: three neighborhoods in Austria and two each in Italy, Norway and Finland. Respondents described their neighborhoods’ cultural and social environments and what motivates their individual and collective pro-climate actions. Participants self-reported these climate-conscious habits across four categories: diet (e.g., eating vegan), travel (e.g., carsharing), protest (e.g., signing a petition) and general behaviors (e.g., buying items secondhand).

Results indicated that individual, collective, cultural and socio-structural factors were all to some degree associated with respondents’ self-reported responses to climate change. Socially, men reported weaker individual intentions to act and weaker pro-climate attitudes (but not weaker climate action) than women. Larger households generally reported more pro-climate behaviors, and those with children younger than 14 years old reported less. People with university degrees reported more pro-climate behaviors and a stronger intent to act individually. Full-time workers reported a weaker intent to act collectively.

Both individual and collective intentions to fight climate change were associated with increased climate action behaviors. Generally, perceived individual efficacy motivated participants’ intention to act individually, while the relationships among neighbors — also known as a neighborhood’s social capital — motivated collective intent to act. The researchers suggest physically reconfiguring neighborhoods to strengthen local networks and galvanize collective action.

Because this study’s participants are highly localized, the researchers caution against generalizing their results and encourage investigating additional European and non-European neighborhoods.

The authors summarize: “Climate mitigation is a collective task; therefore we analysed the role of neighbourhoods in motivating climate action. We found that in neighbourhoods with high social capital, climate action is easier to engage in.”