Climate change adaptation by individuals and households

The paper argues that government-led adaptation is insufficient and that individuals and households must be actively involved to reduce climate risks. It identifies six categories of adaptive behavior—information seeking, preparative measures, protective measures, evacuation/migration, insurance, and political action—and analyzes the psychological drivers of these actions. Key motivators include risk perception, negative emotions, self-efficacy, outcome efficacy, social norms, and perceived responsibility. The authors conclude that while communication campaigns are common, they are often ineffective if they only provide information; instead, they should target psychological antecedents. Furthermore, the paper advocates for genuine public participation in decision-making to empower citizens and improve policy effectiveness, while noting that individual action must be supported by systemic, large-scale governmental infrastructure.

• Individual and household adaptation is critical because governments may become overstrained in their capacity to respond to increasing climate-related hazards, meaning they "cannot guarantee full reduction of the risks of climate-related hazards".
• Household-level adaptation can be highly cost-effective; for instance, clearing vegetation within 10 to 20 meters of a house can increase its survivability during a wildfire to approximately 90%.
• Adaptive behaviors by individuals and households are categorized into six types: information seeking, preparative measures, protective measures, evacuation/migration, purchasing insurance, and political action.
• Knowledge alone is typically insufficient to motivate adaptation, as meta-analysis shows only a "weak positive relationship between knowledge and adaptation".
• Psychological drivers such as negative emotions (e.g., concern and fear) are generally more strongly related to adaptive behavior than subjective risk perceptions.
• Perceived efficacy is a primary motivator; self-efficacy (belief in one's own capability) and outcome efficacy (belief that a measure will actually work) both drive adaptation, with outcome efficacy being "one of the key motives for adaptive behavior".
• Social norms significantly influence adaptation: descriptive norms (perceptions of what others are doing) and injunctive norms (perceptions of what others expect) can either promote or inhibit adaptive actions.
• Perceived personal responsibility is a key barrier; individuals who believe the government is primarily responsible are less likely to implement their own adaptive measures.
• Communication strategies are most effective when they move beyond simple information provision to target psychological antecedents, such as using high-risk messages to increase intentions to implement flood reduction measures.
• True public participation in decision-making—moving beyond 'tokenism' to 'citizen power'—can increase the perceived fairness of policies, leverage localized knowledge, and empower citizens to take private adaptive actions.
• Individual adaptation is a necessary but insufficient condition for success; it will be "marginal" if governments fail to implement large-scale infrastructural measures, such as climate-proof urban planning to address heat-island effects.

APA

van Valkengoed, A., & Steg, L. (2019). Climate change adaptation by individuals and households. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Climate_Adaptation_Individuals_and_Households_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf

Chicago

van Valkengoed, A.M., and L. Steg. Climate change adaptation by individuals and households. World Resources Institute, 2019. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Climate_Adaptation_Individuals_and_Households_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=van Valkengoed |first1=A.M. |last2=Steg |first2=L. |title=Climate change adaptation by individuals and households |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2 September 2019 |url=https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Climate_Adaptation_Individuals_and_Households_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vanvalkengoed2019climate, author = {van Valkengoed, A.M. and Steg, L.}, title = {{Climate change adaptation by individuals and households}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Climate_Adaptation_Individuals_and_Households_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }