Understanding climate change attitudes in Europe: A systematic review using social ecological framework

Abstract

Understanding climate change attitudes is key to addressing the most significant challenge of our time. This paper outlines a pre-registered systematic review (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/445108) which uses Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory to examine the academic literature on person-centred social influences of climate change attitudes in Europe. After screening 4554 articles from four databases, we identified and synthesised data from 93 studies conducted in Europe. Across Europe, there is a high level of concern and belief in climate change. While we found that there are factors at multiple levels which appear to influence attitudes toward climate change, many of the findings are mixed, and the quality of evidence is relatively weak. Most included studies used a cross-sectional survey design. The available evidence suggests that no single factor explains the diversity of views on this critical issue, and instead climate change attitudes result from a dynamic interplay between demographic factors, proximal influences, and broader socio political orientations. If we really want to understand what predicts attitudes toward climate change in Europe, there is a clear need for more rigorous, longitudinal research; such research would deepen our understanding of how climate change attitudes evolve over time and are influenced by changing political, social, and environmental conditions.