Erbaugh, JT

The success of climate action that protects biodiversity and advances human well-being depends on support from local communities. Despite overwhelming evidence from Commons literature on the importance of communication and how it is structured for prosocial outcomes, it remains unclear what strategies are most effective at informing and activating support for local climate mitigation and adaptation. We conducted a randomized control trial to test the impact of presenting locally relevant climate information and facilitating communication among Indonesian citizens (n=828) about local development spending using three strategies. In the first strategy, Indonesian citizens watched an educational video on climate change and a presentation on local climate vulnerabilities. In the second, citizens discussed and voted on spending priorities for local development funds after watching the educational materials. And in the third strategy, citizens deliberated to reach a consensus on group spending priorities after receiving the educational materials, discussion, and voting. We find that citizens who engaged in deliberation about the allocation of local funding demonstrated significantly greater support for climate adaptation and mitigation actions as compared to all other groups. In addition, citizens who engaged in deliberation showed a statistically significant increase in preferences for climate action because of their deliberation. Our findings demonstrate the importance of crafting accessible climate information and implementing deliberative approaches in fostering better understanding and local support for climate action.