Barriers to pro-environmental behaviour: Difference between revisions

 

=== Economic factors ===

The cost of sustainable alternatives and financial measures used to support new technologies can also be a barrier to pro-environmental behaviour.<ref name=":7" /> Households may have severe budgetary constraints that discourage them from investing in energy-efficient measures. In addition, individuals may fear that project costs will not be recovered prior to a future sale of a property.<ref name=":11" /> Economic factors are not just barriers to pro-environmental behaviour for individual households but are also a barrier on the international scale. Developing countries that rely on coal and fossil fuels may not have the funding or infrastructure to switch to more sustainable energy sources. Therefore, help from developed countries, with regards to cost, may be needed. As nations become more prosperous, their citizens are less concerned with the economic battle for survival and are free to pursue postmaterialistic ideals such as political freedom, personal fulfillment, and environmental conservation.

<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pisano |first1=Ignacio |last2=Lubell |first2=Mark |title=Environmental Behavior in Cross-National Perspective |journal=Environment and Behavior |date=28 July 2016 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=31–58 |doi=10.1177/0013916515600494 |s2cid=143367118 }}</ref>

 

=== Structural barriers ===

Structural barriers are large-scale systemic barriers that may be perceived as being objective and external,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Psychology and Climate Change|last=|first=|publisher=|year=2018|isbn=|location=|pages=161–183|chapter=Understanding responses to climate change: Psychological barriers to mitigation and a new theory of behavioral choice}}</ref> and can be highly influential and near impossible to control, even when one wishes to adopt more pro-environmental behaviour. For example, lack of organizational and governmental action on sustainability is considered a barrier for individuals looking to participate in sustainable practices.<ref name=":7" /> Further examples of structural barriers include: low problem awareness at the local level caused by a low priority for adaptation at higher institutional levels, and missing leadership by certain key actors leading to an absence of appropriate decision-making routines.<ref name=":14" /> Other structural barriers reported from a Vancouver-based study include: term limits imposed on politicians that affect council's ability to make long-term decisions; budgetary cycles that force planning based on three year terms, rather than long-term planning; and hierarchical systems that inhibit flexibility and innovation.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Burch|first=Sarah|date=1 December 2010|title=In pursuit of resilient, low carbon communities: An examination of barriers to action in three Canadian cities|journal=Energy Policy|volume=38|issue=12|pages=7575–7585|doi=10.1016/j.enpol.2009.06.070|issn=0301-4215}}</ref>