In this lecture Dr Gifford addresses his research into the psychology of climate action and inaction. In particular, he considered the question of how to engage people in actions to help mitigate climate change rather than just express concern about it, and he identified the seven key psychological barriers to individual climate action. In this way, he provided valuable insight into the behaviors which policy makers and companies need to target to ensure efficient energy use, in a cost effective manner.
Dr Gifford is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria in Canada, where he is also the founding director of the program in the Human Dimensions of Climate Change. He is the editor of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, author of four editions of the textbook Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice, former president of the environmental division of the International Association of Applied Psychology and a former member of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on the Interface between Psychology and Global Climate Change.
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