Climate-related worry is increasingly recognized as a mental health concern and a potential correlate of pro-environmental behavior (PEB). However, little is known about these associations in the Global South or the potential role of mindfulness. This crosssectional study examined relationships among climate change anxiety, psychological distress, mindfulness, and PEB in 340 university students (aged 19–25 years) from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Data were collected between January and June 2024 using validated measures of climate change anxiety (Climate Change Anxiety Scale), psychological distress (DASS-21), dispositional mindfulness (MAAS), and PEB. Analyses included bivariate correlations, block-wise linear regression, and mediation models (PROCESS Model 4; 5,000 bootstrap resamples). Climate change anxiety was positively correlated with psychological distress (r = .47, p < .001) and indirectly associated with lower PEB through distress (ab = −.09, 95% CI [−.15, −.04]). Regression analyses showed that mindfulness was positively associated with PEB (β = .27, p < .001), whereas distress (β = −.22, p = .002) and climate change anxiety (β = −.18, p = .018) were negatively associated with PEB. Mindfulness was indirectly associated with higher PEB through lower distress (ab = .11, 95% CI [.05, .19]) and lower climate change anxiety (ab = .08, 95% CI [.02, .15]), while also showing a direct positive association with PEB. These findings highlight mindfulness as a relevant factor for understanding climate-related distress and environmental engagement among young adults.

Since May 2022, activists in many countries have been protesting, targeting artworks in famous museums and squares, capturing the attention of citizens, media, and authorities. This new wave of protests was not immune to criticism from bystanders, media, and public institutions. Some governments issued legislation to specifically sanction climate activists who target cultural heritage. Hence, the question arises as to how exposure to such protests affects citizens’ attitudes and behaviors toward the environment. To address that question, this study relies on two original datasets. First, a data collection of all instances of climate protests targeting artwork that occurred from May 2022 to August 2024. Second, an original pre-registered survey experiment (n ≈ 1,000), conducted in August–September 2024 in Italy, where the highest concentrations of such acts of protest were recorded. This paper examines whether exposure to climate protests targeting artwork negatively impacts public opinion levels of environmental concern, pro-environmental voting, and pro-environmental behavior. The results suggest that public opinion does not endorse climate protests targeting artwork, but exposure to them has no meaningful causal effect on their stances on environmental protection.

Whether nudges succeed in promoting pro-environmental behavior strongly depends on their public acceptance. Prior literature shows that the framing of nudges, i.e., whether they address the individual (personal framing) or the society (societal framing), is one critical factor in determining nudging acceptance. Since a personal framing highlights the costs individuals have to bear to comply, we hypothesize that people accept nudges more when addressing the general public rather than themselves personally. We expect the framing effect to be stronger for nudges that elicit high-effort behavior than low-effort behavior. Results of multilevel linear regression analyses in two online experiments (nStudy 1 = 294, nobs = 4,410; nStudy 2 = 565, nobs = 11,300) reveal an opposite pattern: People accept nudges more when personally (vs societally) framed. As predicted, nudges receive higher support when the promoted behavior is perceived as low effort. Exploratory path analysis in Study 2 shows that the perceived effectiveness of the nudge mediates the positive relation between personal framing and nudging acceptance. This project provides novel insights on facilitators and barriers in nudging acceptance and their implications for policy-making.

Plastics pollute all environmental compartments because of human activities and mismanagement. Public perceptions and knowledge about plastic pollution differ among individuals and across different jurisdictions. Targeted survey-based research tools can help measure consumer awareness about the impacts of mismanaged plastics and help identify trends and solutions to reduce plastic use and plastic pollution. This review primarily focused on survey-based research from presenters at the scientific track session TS-2.15 Plastic Pulse of the Public at the 7th International Marine Debris Conference (www.7imdc.org) and supplemented by contemporary literature. Survey-based research helps provide new insights about public opinions related to the pervasiveness of plastic pollution. This review includes results about consumer use and perceptions of plastic pollution impacts from diverse studies from nine countries including Ghana, Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, United States, Canada, Norway, Germany, and United Kingdom. Overwhelmingly, public perceptions and consumer awareness of the negative impacts of plastic pollution were extremely high, regardless of geographic location. Awareness about the environmental impacts of plastic waste and plastic pollution was highest within younger, white, female, and well-educated demographic groups. However, differences were observed in public attitudes toward willingness to pay for sustainable alternatives, end-of-life plastic uses, unintended consequences, recycling, and mismanagement.