Participatory communication, structural barriers, and the awareness–action gap in community-based climate engagement in Pakistan
Keywords:
Climate Adaptation, Participatory Communication, Awareness–action Gap, Environmental Justice, Community-based Climate Action, PakistanAbstract
Scholars of climate adaptation have noted that citizens may signal a willingness to act on climate change, but actual participation in activities remains low. This article is based on a survey of 499 households conducted on four different strata of District Jhang in Punjab, Pakistan. The survey captures anticipated and actual participation in climate activities, the inclusion of climate activities in existing information, the barriers participants face in accessing climate information, and the preferred local climate activities. Results show that participants overestimate their willingness to act as evidenced by a moderate level of interest to participate in future climate campaigns (mean = 3.82, standard deviation = 1.12) and a moderate level of interest in future climate activities (mean = 4.13, standard deviation = 1.43). However, 31.6% reported no inclusion in local climate activities and 29.5% reported no awareness of community climate activities. 41.5% reported no participation in climate activities or meetings. The primary barrier to the receipt of climate information was an attitude of climate disinterest (33.2% of the responses were “climate issues are not seen as important”). Relatively large structural barriers, including a lack of reading material and distrust of information sources, remained. Participants preferred local, climate change activities that used local language and real-life examples.
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