Why do we usually react defensively to the necessary change in climate protection?

Why do we usually react defensively to the necessary change in climate protection?

Why do we usually react defensively to the necessary change?
In surveys, climate protection is regularly mentioned as the most important topic. Nevertheless, many people mostly react to necessary changes. The awareness that more has to be done for climate protection is available, but if political measures touch your own life and possibly even cost money, acceptance decreases.
In order to increase acceptance and motivate people for changes, positive future images should be created. It is important to explain where these changes lead and why they are advantageous. For example, we often lack the ideas of what inner cities could look like if fewer cars drive and how it would work.
Another challenge is that we are not trained to take responsibility ourselves. There is also a lack of communication that supports us. In the corona crisis, however, we saw that many people can change quickly and successfully. Nevertheless, these changes cost a lot of strength. Now we are dealing with the corona crisis, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the gas crisis. It is difficult for us to accept big changes again in this situation.
What would increase acceptance and motivate people for changes?
In the corona crisis, we saw that a lot of people can change very quickly and adapt to a new situation. However, it took a lot of strength and the situations were not easy to process. Now we are dealing with the corona crisis, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the gas crisis. It is difficult for us to accept big changes again in this situation.
One way to increase acceptance and motivate people for changes are positive future pictures. It is important to explain where these changes lead and why they are good for us. One example is the idea of ​​inner cities where fewer cars drive. In order to concretize these ideas, communication and education is necessary.
We also have to learn to take on personal responsibility because we are often not trained on it. There is also a lack of communication that supports us.
A positive motivation can also be that people are rewarded for changes if something is taken away. One example is the city of Barcelona, ​​which has offered the citizens free use of local public transport if they do without driving.
The acceptance of climate protection measures can also depend on how controversial you are discussed. Political disagreement can unsettle people and lead to rejection of such measures.
A major challenge is that the knowledge of many people on the subject of climate change is low. This means that people fill their knowledge gaps with false information. Therefore, campaigns that question the effectiveness of climate protection measures are often successful.
However, knowledge is not everything. In addition to knowledge, risk perception also plays a role. People who are aware of the effects of climate change on their health are more willing to do something. Social norms also influence our willingness to act. We often look at what others do and consider it important. Interestingly, we often misjudge the willingness of other people in climate protection.
An example of this is the willingness to eat vegetarian. Many people estimate that only 30 percent would be willing to change their behavior, while 50 percent were actually willing to do so. However, this majority is often not aware that it is a majority. These people should be made visible, supported and obstacles eliminated. However, it should be avoided to create a split between those who want to get involved and those who don't want it.
Communication also plays a crucial role. It is important to explain information well. In pandemic, there were sometimes contradictory measures, which impaired trust in the meaningfulness of these measures. In the climate crisis we have to ask ourselves how we reach the citizens. There should be an institution that achieves all members of our society and conveys the most important scientifically sound information on climate change and the necessary measures. However, we often only look at the individual and neglect society and the economy as a whole. There is an imbalance in the perception of the effectiveness of measures. Many people consider measures such as cycling or a vegetarian diet to be particularly effective, while the effectiveness of political measures that change economic and social processes is often not recognized. It is important to educate people about the effectiveness of such measures and to show that there are also large levers that can make a real difference.