Mental preparation for climate adaptation: The role of cognition and culture in enhancing adaptive capacity of water management in Kiribati

In many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), such as in Kiribati, formal national adaptation programmes are currently being operationalised or are in the pipeline. A key focus is on motivating householders to adapt in anticipation of climate change through pilot community projects. In this paper, we argue that the water sector must pay equal attention to how communities cognitively perceive the process of adaptation if interventions are to be effective. Adopting a cognitive model to gain such insights we conclude that individual's belief in their own abilities to manage water stress play a crucial role in driving intentions to adapt and therefore greater attention needs to be placed on understanding the underling drivers shaping such beliefs.

Research highlights▶ Adaptation intentions are formed when people perceive climate change as a process that they can affect. ▶ As sea level rise is relatively easy for individuals to perceive and link to water resource impacts, people may begin to understand and respond to this secondary impact of climate change without fully understanding the physical ‘climate change’ process. ▶ People perceive the severity of ‘climate change’ threats in general as greater than the specific ‘climate change impacts on water resources’ and because of these distinct cognitive constructs, people who feel hopeless with regard to responding to climate change in general may feel more empowered to respond to its water resource impacts. ▶ People's belief in their own effectiveness in responding to water resource impacts from climate change may depend more on past experience with water stress rather than on a detailed understanding of climate impacts and these over-confident beliefs may impede adaptation.