Widespread tropical deforestation and biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia due to the oil palm industry can be addressed by encouraging consumers to purchase sustainable palm oil (SPO). An online experiment was conducted to assess whether addressing barriers relating to education, motivation and product availability would increase purchasing of SPO. Australian adults (n = 628) were randomly assigned to either: (1) a newly developed interactive educational website on palm oil and SPO; (2) an existing educational video on SPO; or (3) an interactive website on differentiating between real and fake news (an attentional control condition). All participants completed pre-intervention and immediate post-intervention measures. Most participants (n = 403) completed follow-up measures two weeks later. Multivariate analysis revealed that the interactive website and educational video increased both knowledge and the intention to purchase SPO (compared to the attentional control), but neither significantly impacted follow-up self-reported SPO purchasing behaviour. Low perceived product availability might help explain the intention–behaviour gap. Our results suggest that, in addition to increasing consumer knowledge and motivation, promoting sustainable consumption requires creating opportunities for people to engage in the desired behaviour.

The impacts of climate change are particularly strong in Pacific Small Island Developing States. However, empirical data on mental health and well-being in the context of climate change and climate anxiety in the region remains limited. The aim of this research was to understand the emotional experiences of climate change and its impact on well-being in rural Fiji. Seventy-one Indigenous and traditional Fijian adults from seven rural villages were interviewed. Data were analyzed using an inductive latent thematic analysis. Evident was the experience of ecological grief among Indigenous and traditional Fijians. In particular, grief experiences were related to losses of species and resources, which impacted ways of life and led to the loss of culture, traditions, and customs. Anticipatory grief was also evident, relating to the loss of lifestyle for future generations, and the loss of traditional and ancestral homes through potential migration. Results provide new data from the Global South and contribute to the limited exploration of mental health in relation to climate change in the Pacific region. The results highlight the experience of ecological grief among Pacific Islanders, and underscore the significance of culture loss due to climate change and anticipatory grief.

It has long been recognized that the Pacific Small Island Developing States are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, emphasizing the urgency with which adaptation planning and efforts need to be realized. History supports the resiliency of Pacific peoples, though a number of challenges to adaptive capacity have been noted in the previous literature, which has largely focused on low-lying atoll nations. To provide a different perspective, we interviewed 71 Indigenous and other traditional Fijians living in rural villages across a range of geographical locations to collect information on observed environmental changes, and adaptation efforts and challenges. Following an inductive thematic analysis, results identified changing patterns of consumption and production related to unpredictable and extreme weather patterns, with impacts on both overall food security and the financial viability of these communities. A number of physical adaptations to the villages themselves had been effected, which were costly and met with equivocal success. Consideration of migration to different geographical locations was minimal and undesirable. We provide recommendations for the culturally responsive, co-production of knowledge, resilience building, and adaptation planning with Indigenous and other traditional communities that meaningfully integrates scientific knowledge and respect for the wishes of these communities

Clinical and subclinical levels of anxiety and depression are common experiences during pregnancy for expectant women; however, despite rising awareness of significant climate change anxiety around the world, the extent to which this particular type of anxiety may be contributing to overall antenatal psychological distress is currently unknown. Furthermore, the content of concerns that expectant women may have for their existing or future children remains unexplored. To address this gap in knowledge, 103 expectant Australian women completed standardised assessments of antenatal worry and depression, climate change anxiety, and perceived distance to climate change, and responded to several open-ended questions on concerns they had for their children. Results indicated that climate change anxiety accounted for significant percentages of variance in both antenatal worry and depression scores and, unexpectedly, neither child number nor perceived distance to climate change moderated these relationships. Content analysis of qualitative data highlighted the significant health-related anxieties for participants’ children related to climate change (e.g., disease, exposure to extreme weather events, food/water insecurity). Given the escalating nature of climate change, further investigation of this relatively new stressor contributing to the experience of anxiety and distress, particularly in uniquely vulnerable groups such as expectant women, is urgently needed.