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Droughts and extreme rainfall events are two of the hazards that affect many people in the world and are frequent and complex hazards, the rate of occurrence and magnitude of which are expected to increase in a changing climate. In this context, understanding how different actors perceive changes in climate, drought, and extreme rainfall events and their impacts is relevant in contributing to successfully implementing adaptation strategies to reduce their impacts. This research seeks to explore the main changes the climate has undergone and the impacts of drought and precipitation events, as perceived at local levels by different stakeholders. A multi-method approach was applied, including qualitative methods such as observation, 51 semi-structured interviews, and document reviews in Chañaral and the Aconcagua Valley, Chile. This research shows what the perceived changes in climate are and that drought and extreme rainfall events have affected the well-being of the local people by severely impacting the economy, the environment, social interactions, quality of life, and human health. Additionally, the perception of climate change and its impacts vary depending on the type of hazard and the social, geographical, and environmental contexts in which communities live. This study is useful as it has generated knowledge relevant to inform policy decisions, practice, and theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its low contribution to greenhouse gases emission, Latin America is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Economic, social, and political factors make difficult the preparation for ongoing and future impacts. Few studies have explored how people in this region perceive and respond to climate change. In this scenario, we conducted an online survey to address the following research question: How sociodemographic factors are influencing perceptions and emotional responses associated with climate change in LA countries? The final sample consisted of 7232 people, with an error of 2.8% for the total population from 18 countries, representing 67% of the region’s internet-accessible population. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and mixed linear models. Results indicate a consensus on the fact that climate change is already happening, that is totally or partially caused by human activities, that will worsen poverty and inequalities but also that is an opportunity to build a fairer society. Sociodemographic differences were also found, showing the importance of sex, age and having or not having children in multiple variables. We hope this study will contribute to a better understanding of this complex social issue, informing policies to encourage a greater engagement with climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep structural transformations aimed at strengthening climate action and community participation are occurring in Chile, especially after the social unrest of October 2019. The ongoing political crisis has even generated the unprecedented possibility of writing a new constitution through an entirely democratic process. This article explores to what extent these structural transformations are also associated with cognitive and relational changes in the population, especially in terms of community participation. An online survey (n = 1.117) was applied to people over 18 years old in Punta Arenas in November 2020. This is the southernmost city of the American continent, one of the areas most affected by climate change, highly isolated from the rest of the country, and with a strong regional ecological identity. Results show that climate change is perceived as the main environmental problem affecting the city, with multiple negative consequences, but also with some potentially positive impacts. At the same time, environmental and constitutional expectations suggest the state of the environment is deemed to be critical for the future of the city. However, a traditional top-down understanding of community participation still prevails as most participants perceive the citizens' role in dealing with environmental issues as limited to individual, passive, and reactive actions, or reduced to being responsible consumers. These results show that transforming institutions, rules and regulations alone does not guarantee a broader engagement of local communities in more ambitious, committed, and lasting climate action, even with a high climate change concern in the population. Creating strategies aimed at more profound cognitive and relational changes from a bottom-up perspective will also be necessary to avoid negative transformation trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Latin America, there is scarce comparative research on variables associated with the perception of climate change. This hinders the ability of governments to take mitigation and adaptation measures in the face of the phenomenon, as well as the ability of the population to cope with its effects. In order to fill that void, this research studies the relationship between climate change perception, vulnerability, and readiness in 17 countries of the region. To that end, perception indicators included in the Latinobarómetro 2017 survey are analyzed, contrasted with vulnerability and readiness indexes provided by the University of Notre Dame's Global Adaptation Index. The analytical strategy includes the statistical description of the variables associated with the perception of climate change in countries of the region, clustering together those countries that display similar behavioral patterns in relation to their vulnerability and readiness indicators, as well as crosstabs with climate change indicators. The key findings indicate that it is possible to identify 3 patterns of behavior regarding the countries' vulnerability and readiness, which account for high, intermediate, and low levels in those variables. These patterns indicate cross-cutting trends concerning variables such as the level of education and affinity for the market economy, as well as particularities differentiating each country from the rest. The main conclusion is the existence of a negative association between the affinity people express for the market economy and their acknowledgment of climate change as a relevant problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dealing with climate change is one of this century's most difficult challenges demanding new strategies to steer societies towards common transformational goals. A growing literature involving "climate governance" is evolving and should advance the discussion on transformations and the involvement of different actors in climate action. However, it is unclear that the Global South's particularities are being integrated. This study has a three‐fold goal: (a) identify the different approaches to climate governance found in the mainstream literature, (b) explore the degree of integration of the Global South in those approaches, and (c) contribute to the ongoing discussion on this issue from a southern perspective. A systematic literature review on "climate governance" was conducted, distinguishing different approaches and their significance for the Global South. Results clustered in six groups use the characterizations: multi‐level, global, adaptive, transnational, polycentric, and experimental/transformative. These terms account for different levels of decision‐making, emerging values, and the importance of non‐State and sub‐national actors. Approaches vary, in relation to change and participation, from an incremental improvement focus to a more transformative perspective and from the promotion of community influence to processes based on traditional institutions. In the Global South, multi‐level, multi‐actor climate governance occurs in a context of deep inequality and asymmetric power relations, rising environmental conflicts, and a lack of adequate mechanisms for community participation. Addressing climate change here will require, acknowledging the State alone cannot solve the issue, that different views must be considered and that contextualized perspectives from the Global South must be integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate adaptation is a growing imperative across all scales and sectors of governance. This often requires changes in institutions, which can be difficult to realize. Explicitly process‐oriented approaches explaining how and why institutional change occurs are lacking. Overcoming this gap is vital to move beyond either input‐oriented (e.g., capacity) or output‐oriented (e.g., assessment) approaches, to understand how changes actually occur for addressing complex and contested governance issues. This paper analyses causal conditions and mechanisms by which institutions develop in climate adaptation governance. It focuses on urban climate governance through an in‐depth case study of Santiago, Chile, over a 12‐year period (2005–2017), drawing on primary and secondary data, including 26 semistructured interviews with policy, academic, and civil society actors. It identifies and explains a variety of institutional developments across multiple levels (i.e., programmatic, legislative, and constitutional), through a theory‐centric process tracing methodology. This reveals a multiple‐response pattern, involving several causal mechanisms and coexisting institutional logics. Findings suggest that although adaptation may be inherently protracted, institutions can nevertheless develop in both related and novel directions. Overall, the paper argues for a new research agenda on process‐oriented theorizing and analysis in climate and environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting effective responses to climate change, especially among people who reject its anthropogenic causes, has been challenging. Following a qualitative study, we experimentally induce one of four frames of reference (identity, biodiversity conservation, economic prosperity, and climate change), and assess their effects on participants' behavioral intentions using three scales (consumption-investment, consumption-reduction, and political participation). The sample ( N = 156) included people who thought climate change is natural and those who thought it is human-induced. Results show a significant impact of the identity frame, relative to the climate-change frame, for both consumption scales, in the total sample, and among those who reject the anthropogenic causes. These results offer a way to address behavioral resistances associated with antagonistic views on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is increasing the occurrence of natural disasters worldwide, and more frequent and intense fires represent one of the most destructive expressions of this trend. Chile is highly vulnerable to climate change, and fires are a recurrent phenomenon affecting many people each year. To reduce fire risk, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests reducing both exposure and vulnerability through multiple initiatives, which demand increased community engagement. In such a context, this study explores local perceptions of fire in a sample of inhabitants in a wildland-urban interface (WUI) in Valparaiso, a city that is affected by numerous fires each year. The ultimate goal was to identify psychological and community factors that should be taken into consideration to develop prevention plans and safer environments for people living in a context of poverty and social inequity. Using a qualitative approach, 28 interviews were conducted and analyzed following grounded theory principles. Results identified multiple causes, impacts, and characteristics of the problem perceived by people who permanently cohabit with fire risk, showing that for many of them, fire risk is not about the probability of occurrence of a disaster, but a question about when and how the next fire will happen. However, in such a complex scenario, psychological, community, and structural barriers deter people from implementing more effective actions. Conversely, in emergency situations, such barriers are irrelevant and cooperative actions prevail, suggesting the existence of resources and capacities within the community that could lessen exposure and vulnerability if activated on a day-to-day basis. Overall, reducing fire risk cannot be achieved by local communities alone nor without their support. To build, maintain, and consolidate fire prevention actions, it is critical to activate community strengths and cooperation and engage the resources and management capacity of local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]