Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations Survey: Public Perceptions of Climate Change and Low Carbon Lifestyles in the UK, Brazil, Sweden and China, Wave 1, 2020

This online survey was part of the visioning research conducted at the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations. The research project, of which this survey forms a crucial part of is titled 1.4. Public perceptions of climate change and transformative action over time. The aim of this project is to examine public perceptions of climate change in the context of the Centre’s core principles, diet, transport, material consumption, thermal comfort, by conducting multi-wave, multi-country (UK, Brazil, China, Sweden) surveys. This current survey forms the first wave of a survey that was run annually for 4 consecutive years, including tracking items and bespoke, flexible modules every year. The main aim of this survey wave 1 was to map climate change beliefs and engagement with the 4 key areas (diet, transport, material consumption, thermal comfort) across the UK, Brazil, China and Sweden. The survey results help to identify concerns, social dynamics help to understand people's engagement with the four<p>The Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) will be a global hub for understanding the profound changes required to address climate change. At its core, is a fundamental question of enormous social significance: how can we as a society live differently - and better - in ways that meet the urgent need for rapid and far-reaching emission reductions? While there is now strong international momentum on action to tackle climate change, it is clear that critical targets (such as keeping global temperature rise to well within 2 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels) will be missed without fundamental transformations across all parts of society. CAST's aim is to advance society's understanding of how to transform lifestyles, organisations and social structures in order to achieve a low-carbon future, which is genuinely sustainable over the long-term. Our Centre will focus on people as agents of transformation in four challenging areas of everyday life that impact directly on climate change but have proven stubbornly resistant to change: consumption of goods and physical products, food and diet, travel, and heating/cooling. We will work across multiple scales (individual, community, organisational, national and global) to identify and experiment with various routes to achieving lasting change in these challenging areas. In particular, we will test how far focussing on 'co-benefits' will accelerate the pace of change. Co-benefits are outcomes of value to individuals and society, over and above the benefits from reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These may include improved health and wellbeing, reduced waste, better air quality, greater social equality, security, and affordability, as well as increased ability to adapt and respond to future climate change. For example, low-carbon travel choices (such as cycling and car sharing) may bring health, social and financial benefits that are important for motivating behaviour and policy change. Likewise, aligning environmental and social with economic objectives is vital for behaviour and organisational change within businesses. Our Research Themes recognise that transformative change requires: inspiring yet workable visions of the future (Theme 1); learning lessons from past and current societal shifts (Theme 2); experimenting with different models of social change (Theme 3); together with deep and sustained engagement with communities, business and governments, and a research culture that reflects our aims and promotes action (Theme 4). Our Centre integrates academic knowledge from disciplines across the social and physical sciences with practical insights to generate widespread impact. Our team includes world-leading researchers with expertise in climate change behaviour, choices and governance. We will use a range of theories and research methods to fill key gaps in our understanding of transformation at different spatial and social scales, and show how to target interventions to impactful actions, groups and moments in time. We will partner with practitioners (e.g., Climate Outreach, Greener-UK, China Centre for Climate Change Communication), policy-makers (e.g., Welsh Government) and companies (e.g., Anglian Water) to develop and test new ways of engaging with the public, governments and businesses in the UK and internationally. We will enhance citizens', organisations' and societal leaders' capacity to tackle climate change through various mechanisms, including secondments, citizens' panels, small-scale project funding, seminars, training, workshops, papers, blog posts and an interactive website. We will also experiment with transformations within academia itself, by trialling sustainable working practices (e.g., online workshops), being 'reflexive' (studying our own behaviour and its impacts on others), and making our outputs and data publically available.</p>本线上调研隶属于气候变化与社会转型研究中心（Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations，CAST）开展的愿景研究项目。本调研作为核心组成部分的研究课题题为1.4. 公众对气候变化及转型行动的长期认知。本项目以该中心的核心原则为框架，围绕饮食（diet）、交通（transport）、物质消费（material consumption）、热舒适（thermal comfort）四大领域，通过多轮次（multi-wave）、跨国界（multi-country，英国、巴西、中国、瑞典）调研，旨在考察公众对气候变化的认知。 本次调研为连续四年每年开展的系列调研的首轮调研，每年均包含追踪类题目与定制化弹性模块。首轮调研的核心目标是绘制英国、巴西、中国、瑞典四国公众对气候变化的认知情况，以及其在上述四大关键领域的参与度。调研结果有助于识别公众关切与社会动态，助力理解公众在四大领域的参与情况。 气候变化与社会转型研究中心（CAST）将成为理解应对气候变化所需深刻变革的全球枢纽。其核心议题具有极高的社会意义：作为一个社会，我们如何以符合快速且深远减排的迫切需求的方式，实现更可持续的生活方式与更美好的生活？ 尽管当前全球应对气候变化的行动已具备强劲的国际势头，但显然，若不推动社会各领域的根本性转型，关键气候目标（如将全球温升较工业化前水平控制在2摄氏度以内）将无法实现。CAST的宗旨是推动社会认知进步，探索如何转型生活方式、社会组织与社会结构，以构建真正具备长期可持续性的低碳未来。 本研究中心将聚焦四大直接影响气候变化但长期以来变革阻力重重的日常生活领域，将公众视为转型的行动主体：商品与实体产品消费、食品与饮食、出行以及采暖/制冷。我们将跨多个尺度（个体、社区、组织、国家与全球层面）开展研究，识别并试验在这些高阻力领域实现持久变革的各类路径。其中，我们将重点验证协同效益（co-benefits）对变革进程的加速作用。协同效益指除温室气体减排收益之外，对个体与社会具有价值的各类成果，包括改善健康与福祉、减少废弃物、提升空气质量、增进社会公平、提升保障水平与可及性，以及增强应对未来气候变化的能力。例如，低碳出行选择（如骑行与共享汽车）可带来健康、社交与财务收益，这些收益对于推动公众行为转变与政策变革至关重要。同理，将环境、社会目标与经济目标相结合，对于企业内部的行为与组织变革亦至关重要。 本中心的研究主题明确，根本性转型的实现需要：一是构建兼具感召力与可行性的未来愿景（主题1）；二是从过往与当前的社会变革中汲取经验教训（主题2）；三是试验多样化的社会变革模式（主题3）；同时需深度且持续地与社区、企业及政府开展合作，并建立契合本中心宗旨、推动实践行动的研究文化（主题4）。 本中心整合社会科学与自然科学各学科的学术知识与实践洞察，以产生广泛的社会影响。我们的研究团队汇集了在气候变化行为、选择与治理领域处于世界领先地位的研究者。我们将运用一系列理论与研究方法，填补我们在不同空间与社会尺度下对转型进程认知的关键空白，并阐明如何将干预措施精准靶向至最具影响力的行动、群体与时间节点。 我们将与从业者（如Climate Outreach、Greener-UK、中国气候变化战略传播中心）、政策制定者（如威尔士政府）及企业（如Anglian Water）开展合作，开发并测试与英国及全球范围内的公众、政府和企业开展互动的全新方式。我们将通过借调人员、公众咨询委员会、小型项目资助、研讨会、培训、工作坊、学术论文、博客文章以及交互式网站等多种机制，提升公民、组织与社会领袖应对气候变化的能力。此外，我们还将在学术领域内部推动转型，试点可持续办公模式（如线上工作坊）、秉持“反思性”研究理念（审视自身行为及其对他人的影响），并将研究成果与数据向公众开放。