Considering local adaptation increases willingness to mitigate

Discussing adaptation has previously been viewed as “taboo”, a distraction that shifts focus away from mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. However, this view has recently changed as researchers, governments, and the UNFCCC have acknowledged the necessity of both mitigation and adaptation. Yet there has been little research on the public's view of adaptation and whether public consideration of adaptation (local or otherwise) might have positive effects or, as feared, distract people from mitigation. Contrary to these fears, here we experimentally show that consideration of local adaptation to sea-level rise significantly increased people's willingness to perform personal emissions-reducing behaviors, such as using public transport, eating less meat, and flying less. We surveyed residents in the Wellington region of New Zealand, randomly assigning respondents either to answer questions about climate change and mitigation only, or first to answer questions about potential local sea-level rise and adaptation measures that could be taken in their region. Respondents who first considered this local adaptation scored significantly higher on a measure of personal willingness to mitigate, and responses did not change depending on participants' level of skepticism of anthropogenic climate change. These results reveal the potential for discussion and consideration of local adaptation to engage the public in mitigation actions, possibly by making the problem of climate change less distant and more tangible.