Editing IPCC:AR6/SROCC/Chapter-1 (section)

=== 1.8.3 The Role of Knowledge in People’s Responses to Climate, Ocean and Cryosphere Change ===

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To hold global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, substantial changes in the day-to-day activities of individuals, families, communities, the private sector, and governance bodies will be required (Ostrom, 2010 <sup>[[#fn:r478|478]]</sup> ; Creutzig et al., 2018 <sup>[[#fn:r479|479]]</sup> ). Enabling these changes at a meaningful societal scale requires sensitivity to communities and their use of multiple knowledge systems to best motivate effective responses to the risks and opportunities posed by climate change ( ''medium confidence'' ) (1.8.2, Cross-Chapter Box 4 in Chapter 1). Meaningful engagement of people and communities with climate change information depends on that information cohering with their perception of how the world works (Crate and Fedorov, 2013 <sup>[[#fn:r480|480]]</sup> ). The values and identities people hold affect how acceptable they find the behavioural changes, technological solutions and governance that climate change action requires (Moser, 2016 <sup>[[#fn:r481|481]]</sup> ).

Education and climate literacy contribute to climate change action and adaptation ( ''high confidence'' ). Although public understanding of humanity’s role in both causing and abating climate change has increased in the last decade (Milfont et al., 2017 <sup>[[#fn:r482|482]]</sup> ), levels of climate concern vary greatly globally (Lee et al., 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r483|483]]</sup> ). Educational attainment has the strongest effect on raising climate change awareness (Lee et al., 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r484|484]]</sup> ), and research documents the value of evidence-based climate change education, particularly during formal schooling (Motta, 2018 <sup>[[#fn:r486|486]]</sup> ). People further understand climate change as a serious threat when they experience it in their lives and have knowledge of its human causes (Lee et al., 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r487|487]]</sup> ; Shi et al., 2016 <sup>[[#fn:r488|488]]</sup> ). Education and tailored climate communication strategies that are respectful of people’s values and identity can aid acceptance and implementation of the local to global-scale approaches and policies required for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation (Shi et al., 2016; Anisimov and Orttung, 2018 <sup>[[#fn:r489|489]]</sup> ; Sections 3.5.4, 4.4), while also supporting CRDPs (see also Cross-Chapter Box 2 in Chapter 1, and FAQ1.2).

Human psychology complicates engagement with climate change, due to complex social factors, including values (Corner et al., 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r490|490]]</sup> ), identity (Unsworth and Fielding, 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r491|491]]</sup> ), ideology (Smith and Mayer, 2019 <sup>[[#fn:r492|492]]</sup> ) and the framing of climate messaging. Additionally, psychology effects adaptation actions, motivated by perceptions that others are already adapting, avoidance of an unpleasant state of mind, feelings of self-efficacy and belief in the efficacy of the adaptation action (van Valkengoed and Steg, 2019 <sup>[[#fn:r493|493]]</sup> ). Better understandings of the psychological implications across diverse communities and social and political contexts will facilitate a just transition of both emissions reduction and adaptation (Schlosberg et al., 2017 <sup>[[#fn:r494|494]]</sup> ). Impacts of climate change on natural and human environments (e.g., extreme weather) or human-caused modifications to the environment (e.g., adaptation) will raise further psychological challenges. This includes psychological impacts to the emotional wellbeing of people adversely affected by climate change (Ogunbode et al., 2018 <sup>[[#fn:r495|495]]</sup> ), resulting in solastalgia (Albrecht et al., 2007 <sup>[[#fn:r496|496]]</sup> ), a distress akin to homesickness while in their home environment (McNamara and Westoby, 2011 <sup>[[#fn:r497|497]]</sup> ).

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