Publications

Student Survey Highlights

• Nearly Two-Thirds of Students Have Taken Courses that covered Climate Change 
• Students Report Beliefs about Climate Change Consistent with Just Transition Action Strategies
• More Campus Investment in Earth Day-Type Activities May Encourage more Education and Climate Action around Decarbonization
• UCM Students Report Engaging in Several Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Key Findings and Recommendations

• The decarbonization survey reached nearly one in three members of campus
• UC Merced maintains curricular resources to overcome the dense jargon of climate action terminology
• There is widespread support for UCM to engage in equitable climate planning in the region that prioritizes working families and disinvested communities
• There is broad campus backing for UCM to seek greater external investments to fund climate action planning and decarbonization efforts in the San Joaquin Valley
• Nearly one out of every three members of the campus community is willing to participate in climate meetings off campus providing a vast human resource pool for climate action
• A permanent campus climate action commission should be immediately established to continue the implementation of the preferences in this survey

Scientific research on the mechanisms to address global warming and its consequences continues to proliferate in the context of an accelerating climate emergency. The concept of climate action includes multiple meanings, and several types of actors employ its use to manage the crisis. The term has evolved to incorporate many of the suggested strategies to combat global warming offered by international bodies, states, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and social movements. The present work offers a classification scheme to build a shared understanding of climate action through a lens of environmental justice and just transitions developed by sociologists and others. The classification system includes major institutional and noninstitutional forms of climate action. By identifying the primary forms of climate action, analysts, scholars, policymakers, and activists can better determine levels of success and how different forms of climate action may or may not complement one another in the search for equitable solutions in turning back the rapid heating of the planet.

To make greater strides in reducing city-level greenhouse gas emissions, more collaboration between civil society and local governments is necessary. Participation in local meetings about climate change sets the stage for enduring community involvement in resiliency and mitigation planning. This study examines the correlates of individual interest in attending local climate meetings. The work is based on a random sample of 1,950 registered voters in Fresno, California (the fifth largest city in the state). The findings suggest that those individuals with ties to capacity-building organizations in the labor and community sectors were the most willing to attend local meetings about climate change.  The types of civic engagement activities encouraged by labor unions and community-based organizations (CBOs) were also associated with a greater willingness to participate in gatherings about global warming.  Increasing public participation in local climate programs may be enhanced by investing in the types of civic organizations that specialize in mobilizing residents to engage in municipal activities.