Our dependency on fossil fuels makes us vulnerable. Wars across the world are pushing up prices for households in the UK.
Why keep waiting for the next crisis? We need to transition to clean power as fast as we can to protect people and our economy.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
bsky.app/profile/epgr...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here is the full paper in @nature.com Climate Change by E. Keith Smith and #capable co-authors @zanmlakar.bsky.social, @thijsbouman.bsky.social et. al.
@rug.nl @rug-gmw.bsky.social
"If even a smaller portion of this group can be won over, we can find majorities for a range of con-create climate policies in Europe," says lead author E. Keith Smith.
@rug-gmw.bsky.social @rug.nl
osf.io/preprints/os...
The study also shows that the population would prefer to see revenue generated from climate funds, like the EU Emissions Trading System, invested in #adaptation projects, like investments in green technologies or low-emission transport services, and compensation measures for individual households
This is particularly the case for the conditional middle: expected costs and benefits are at the forefront of what drives their policy preferences, overriding party affiliation, #climate attitudes, and socio-demographic factors such as income, place of residence or level of education.
The most decisive factors determining whether the conditional middle group will support a policy is their personal cost-benefit calculations. Across #Europe, people prefer policies that make it easier for people and businesses to make pro-climate changes over more visible financial impacts.
The conditional middle, who are much more flexible, form their opinion based on the individual #climate policy itself, and do not have a predetermined disposition for or against it. The study focused on this critical group to understand what shapes their climate policy preferences & voting behaviour
The study aimed to gauge the opinions and attitudes of the population and accurately capture the fundamental stance of participants towards climate policy.
Based on the responses, the researchers developed four profiles:
supporters (36%)
neutrals (10%)
opponents (21%)
conditional middle (33%)
Researchers in the #Capable EU research project (including our colleagues ลฝan Mlakar, Thijs Bouman and Goda Perlaviciute) conducted a large-scale survey in 13 EU countries to find out which measures are more and less politically acceptable, and why.
Current climate measures are unlikely to meet the #Paris Climate Agreement targets, and whether further political measures can move closer to the goal of limiting #globalwarming to 1.5 degrees and combating climate change depends heavily on public opinion and political support.
New research out today by the Capable research project (including @zanmlakar.bsky.social and @thijsbouman.bsky.social) finds that the success of climate policy is often not determined by the loudest voices, but rather by a large group in between: the "conditional middle"
Job ad๐ฑ: PhD position on climate change and cooperation in rural Asia, with Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk, Vigyan Ratnoo (Utrecht University) & Nina Hansen (University of Groningen) in an interdisciplinary project. Deadline: April 1, 2026. socion-program.org/vacancy/phd-...
We're looking forward to meeting potential future EP master's students today at the University College Groningen Alumni & Career Day! Several of our current and former master's students will be at the Master's Market to answer your questions about environmental psychology
www.rug.nl/ucg/events/e...
After four years, Lorenzo Squintani is stepping down as director of the Wubbo Ockels School for Energy & Climate ๐ฑ
During the WOS Day on 26 March, he will officially bid farewell under the motto 'stronger together through challenges'. Read more ๐
www.rug.nl/wubbo-ockels...
Energy projects aimed at a sustainable energy transition can trigger strong negative emotions and resistance from the public. While practitioners are increasingly realising that they cannot simply ignore public emotions, they struggle with how to deal with peopleโs emotional responses and how to secure public acceptability of sustainable energy projects. We argue that a first critical step in order to adequately address emotional responses to energy projects is to understand where these emotional responses come from. We introduce a value-based approach, which entails that different characteristics of energy projects may violate or support peopleโs core values, which evokes emotions in people. We present a theoretical framework of the relationship between peopleโs values, the (perceived) implications of energy projects for these values, and peopleโs emotional responses to energy projects. We give examples from case studies in the literature to substantiate our reasoning, and we offer directions for future research. Our novel approach provides critical insights for project developers, decision makers, engineers, and scientists who aim to better understand the human dimension of a sustainable energy transition.
And which mix of values we have - biospheric (cares about the environment), altruistic (cares about others), hedonic (cares about pleasure) and egoistic (care about status) - influence which forms of environmental harm we care about (i.e. busy road by our kid's school)
www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10...
Thanks for the great conversation with @lwhitmarsh.bsky.social! Our colleague Linda Steg (also an IPCC author) found that psychological distance is lower than we think: most people actually perceive #climatechange as occurring now and close by.
Our colleagues @gpalomovelez.bsky.social, Linda Steg & Goda Perlaviciute will present their work on fairness & trust perceptions of #hydrogen import policies during a (hybrid) workshop on 30 April hosted by the University of Portsmouth! Interested? Sign up here:
forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...
What's the behavioral & social sciences research master at @rug-gmw.bsky.social really like? Next week is the master's open day at @rug.nl so we asked Wencke, one of our current ReMa students, to share her top 3 tips for prospective students:
youtube.com/shorts/kfdZS...
What motivates us to actually act on #climatechange? Prof. Linda Steg (@rug-gmw.bsky.social) spoke about people's intrinsic motivation to act pro-environmentally - and the context needed to facilitate action - during a seminar by @worldwildlife.org and the American Psychological Association:
17 men and women standing in a cobblestone courtyard smiling in a group photo. They are the attendees of a roundtable about pro-environmental behavior in the workplace.
๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ-๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ปs/๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐? At the @d-b-stiftung.bsky.social Ladenburger Roundtable, Linda Steg & Brian Wagner were among the 17 researchers/practitioners who came together to talk pro-environmental behavior at work. @clarakuehner.bsky.social
Most people are concerned about the climate crisis, but all too often that doesnโt translate into action. This week we dig into the psychology behind โcatastrophe apathyโ to understand the gap. With Lorraine Whitmarsh of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations.
bit.ly/4jy5uiH
๐ฉ๐ฝโ๐ฌ How can a data-driven approach become part of sustainable laboratory behavior? Our colleagues + a team of @rug.nl researchers are among the 2026 winners of the Green Chemistry Education Awards from @beyondbenign.bsky.social, testing behavioral interventions to strengthen positive lab norms.
Congratulations to prof. Goda Perlaviciute on her appointment to the Dutch Council of Energy, an independent advisory body on the #energytransition, Dutch energy independence, and the government's vision for a #sustainable and #just energy system in the Netherlands through 2050.
When are small groups of people most effective at triggering social tipping necessary for convention change? @zanmlakar.bsky.social et al found consistent minorities are perceived both as more confident, which promotes tipping, AND as uncompromising, which surprisingly impedes tipping.
๐ข ๐๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
๐จNew report from ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฅ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ
๐ Read the full report here: climate-advisory-board.europa.eu/reports-and-...
Terwijl Donald Trump met veel kabaal het Amerikaanse klimaatbeleid sloopt, bouwen miljoenen mensen overal op aarde onverstoorbaar door aan een duurzame toekomst. Zij zijn in de meerderheid โ ze halen alleen de voorpagina niet.
Lees het verhaal van @jelmermommers.bsky.social hier:
What's it like to do a (double degree) master with us?
Cedric Meyer is a PhD now & began as a dual degree environmental psychology master's student. We asked him what inspired him to sign up for the master's and what he learned from it.
@rug.nl @rug-gmw.bsky.social @leuphana.bsky.social
Our institute is hiring
1. an assistant professor (with TT) for Social Psychology (focus: environmental psychology)
ohws.prospective.ch/public/v1/jo...
2. an assistant lecturer (with TT) for Experimental Personality Psychology
ohws.prospective.ch/public/v1/jo...
A graphic with the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations logo at the top left. Large text reads โWe are hiring!โ. Below, text states: โPosition: Research Fellow. Institution: University of Bath. Deadline: Monday, March 16th.โ A blue button at the bottom left says โApply nowโ. The CAST logomark, a multicoloured circular line of patterns appear on the right side.
CAST job opportunity: Join us as a Research Fellow at our centre hub, the University of Bath, leading a programme of quantitative behavioural research to advance understanding of climate-relevant behaviour change & life choices. ๐ฃ
Deadline: 16 March 2026
Apply now ๐
www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/Vacancy...
