Climate Change: Psychological Solutions and Strategies for Change

Abstract

Climate change is typically viewed as an “environmental” problem rather than the psychological issue that it represents. Given that barriers to proenvironmental behavior are rooted in psychological processes, solution approaches to combating climate change must incorporate significant psychological adaptations. Reframing climate change as a public health problem, highlighting success stories and health benefits, focusing on the here and now, providing specific direction for behavior change, and acknowledging moral, ethical, religious, and altruistic imperatives are all important components of successfully addressing the wicked problem of climate change.