Extreme concern and high level of commitment

Scientists from all academic disciplines are extremely concerned about climate change. Many have already changed their lifestyles or engaged in advocacy and protest, with more willing to do so in the future.

This is evident from a large-scale survey of scientists from around the world, conducted by an international research team led by the University of Amsterdam. The researchers not only looked at the views of scientists and the extent to which they are engaged in climate action, but also how the involvement of scientists in climate change could be increased.

The research was published Monday, Aug. 5, in the journal Climate change in nature.

“Climate change is an existential threat to humanity,” says postdoctoral researcher Fabian Dablander of the UvA’s Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics and one of the lead authors of the study.

“To ensure a livable future, each of us must ask ourselves: how can I best contribute to this crucial moment in human history? Scientists are well placed to help tackle climate change beyond doing However, little is known about the broader engagement with this issue, hence our study, in which we conducted quantitative and qualitative analyzes of a survey of over 9,000 researchers from all scientific disciplines, not just climate science.

Basic and personal

Most respondents (83%) in the survey say they are “very” or “extremely” concerned about climate change. The vast majority (91%) of them believe that fundamental changes in social, political and economic systems are needed to truly tackle climate change.

The majority of respondents (84%) also think that significant changes in personal behavior and lifestyle are needed. Many say they have already made significant changes to their lifestyle, driving less (69%), flying less (51%) and switching to a more plant-based diet (39%) .

Willingness to engage

The majority of scientists in the survey believe that climate activist groups can bring about positive change and that scientists should become more engaged in climate protection and even protest. A significant portion of respondents are already engaged in climate advocacy (29%), have participated in legal protests (23%) and/or have engaged in civil disobedience (10%), and about half say they will be willing to engage in some of them in the future.

Breaking barriers

Based on the data, Dablander and colleagues then looked at what factors predict scientists’ engagement in advocacy and protest. They propose a two-step model of engagement.

First, in order for scientists to be willing to engage, they must overcome mainly intellectual barriers such as lack of belief in the effectiveness of actions, lack of identification with activists, lack of knowledge, fear of losing credibility and fear of consequences.

Second, to actually engage, they need to overcome largely practical barriers such as perceived lack of skills, lack of time, lack of opportunities and not knowing any groups involved in climate action.

Based on their two-step model, the researchers propose ways to increase the engagement of scientists, such as facilitating interactions between scientists who are already engaged and those who are not, and making institutional reforms, for example by offering more time and money for climate-related actions or rewarding public engagement.

Wake up call

“Governments and corporations continue to make empty promises that minimize the level of transformation required to prevent climate disruption,” says Adam Aron, professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego, and a co-author of the study.

“This study makes it clear that scientists from all disciplines are very concerned and are calling for this fundamental transformation. I hope it helps to wake people up and engage – more and more scientists are.”

About the survey

In their study, the researchers sampled the scientific community by sending targeted emails to more than 250,000 academics. The more than 9,000 scientists who ultimately responded to the survey came from 115 countries, all academic disciplines and all career stages.

The researchers acknowledge the possibility that scientists who were already involved in climate change may have been more likely to participate in the survey, which could affect the extent to which the reported percentages are representative of the scientific community as a whole.