Factors affecting climate change concern in Pakistan: are there rural/urban differences?


Ergun S. J., Khan M. U., Rivas M. F.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH, cilt.28, sa.26, ss.34553-34569, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 28 Sayı: 26
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s11356-021-13082-7
  • Dergi Adı: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, IBZ Online, ABI/INFORM, Aerospace Database, Aqualine, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, Environment Index, Geobase, MEDLINE, Pollution Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.34553-34569
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Climate change concern, Pakistan, Rural, urban differences, Socio-demographic characteristics, Religious denomination
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

There is a growing interest in studying the determinants of climate change concern, but there are few studies conducted on developing countries like Pakistan. This study has three objectives. Firstly, to find whether there are differences in climate change concern levels between Pakistani citizens residing in rural and urban areas. Secondly, whether climate change concern is influenced by the same or different factors in rural and urban areas. Finally, whether the religious denomination one adheres to plays a role. The 2015 database provided by Pew Research Center, a representative sample of the Pakistani population, is used, and ordered logit models are run by including the independent variables in steps. The main finding is that the place of residency matters: rural residents show higher levels of concern than their urban counterparts. Climate change concern is influenced in both areas of residence by the gender of the respondent: females are more concerned than males. Nonetheless, there are differences in other determinants of climate change concern in rural and urban areas, for example, the education level, which affects mainly rural citizens. The religious denomination affects the concern of rural residents: Sunni Muslims show higher levels of climate change concern than Shi'a Muslims. Recommendations include the implementation of policies aiming to increase the education level in rural areas and the incorporation of courses and curricular or extra-curricular activities that would promote more concern among high school students.