July 25, 2025
Authors: Matto Mildenberge, Sara M. Constantino, Paasha Mahdavi and Ingmar Sturm
Summary
The success of climate adaptation and resilience efforts in vulnerable regions will be shaped by public awareness and acceptance of proposed solutions. Yet for publics in small-island states and territories, who represent some of the world’s most climate-exposed populations, there has been no systematic effort to elicit public preferences and perceptions. We provide a first-of-its-kind survey fielded in 55 small-island states and territories. We find broad acceptance of anthropogenic climate change, but wide variation in perceived climate risks and responsibility over who will resolve climatic threats. In line with an “all-hands-on-deck” approach, publics not only attribute responsibility for solving climate change to major historical and present emitters but also former colonial powers and home-country governments.
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.
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