People are more likely to act on climate change when they believe solutions can work.

Confidence in government effectiveness is one of the strongest predictors of climate engagement.

Visible policy successes only build support when people connect those outcomes to governmental action.

By Madalina Vlasceanu, Danielle Goldwert, and Anandita Sabherwal

A growing number of New Yorkers are rallying behind the political promise that government should visibly improve people’s lives again. Mayor Mamdani has built momentum around policies like faster and fare-free buses, universal child care, public grocery stores, affordable housing construction, and major clean infrastructure investment. What makes this strategy politically significant is the underlying psychological promise that collective problems are still solvable if we try. This belief might be the key driver of climate action today.

In our research article published today in Communications Earth and Environment involving more than 32,000 Americans, we found that people were substantially more likely to engage politically, advocate publicly, donate money, and change their lifestyles when they believed their actions, collective efforts, and governments could meaningfully reduce climate threats. Most........

© Psychology Today