Investigating climate change-related perceptions that hinder stakeholders’ willingness to protect the ocean

Abstract

While community and stakeholder support for marine and coastal ecosystem conservation policies is important, there is a shortage of multinational studies examining how perceptions of climate change impact stakeholders’ willingness to protect the ocean. Therefore, this study, employing Mindsponge theory and Bayesian Mindsponge Framework analytics, examines which climate change-related perceptions can hinder the willingness to support marine protection efforts, addressing a gap in existing literature. Our findings reveal that perceived high socio-economic costs for climate change mitigation (i.e., society is doing too much to address climate change and responses to climate change can damage the country’s economy) and high potential of technologies in addressing climate change (i.e., new technologies can solve climate change) can hinder stakeholders’ willingness to support ocean protection actions. Based on these results, we suggest a comprehensive strategy supporting climate change mitigation, marine conservation, and socio-economic growth simultaneously. The study also highlights the danger of exceptionalism, which refers to the risky tendency of relying too heavily on technology to solve environmental challenges, posing a significant risk to both climate change mitigation and marine protection efforts. We propose fostering collaborative partnerships, incorporating indigenous knowledge, and promoting ecocentrism to ensure globally informed, locally relevant, and impactful marine conservation.